Agenda and minutes

Also in attendance:

Ms L Brewer, Solicitor, Legal and Democratic Services;

Ms S Rawat, Solicitor, Legal and Democratic Services;

Mr G Halsall, Complaints and Appeals Officer, Legal and Democratic Services; and

Mrs I Winn, Complaints and Appeals Officer, Legal and Democratic Services.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

County Councillor Cheetham declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 4159 on the grounds that she was a Governor at the school attended by the pupil and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant and that she had been appointed to the Governing Body at the school attended by the Local Authority.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 7th November 2016 be confirmed as an accurate record and be signed by the Chair.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

It was noted that the paperwork for appeals 4150, 4175, 4197 and 4198 had only been finalised after the agenda had been circulated. As a result, the Chair had been consulted and had agreed that these appeals could be presented to the meeting under urgent business in order to avoid any delay in determining them.

Resolved: That, appeals 4150, 4175, 4197 and 4198 as circulated to the Members of the Committee, be considered alongside other appeals at the meeting.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10am on Monday 16th January 2017 in room B15b, 1^st Floor, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Monday the 16th January 2017 in Room B15b, County Hall, Preston.

The Committee is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 as indicated against the heading of the item and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, during consideration of the following item of business as there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972, as indicated against the heading of the item.

(Not for Publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.  It is considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interests in disclosing the information).

Please note that due to the confidential nature of the information included in this report it will not be published on the website.

(Note: Reason for exclusion – exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information).

A report was presented in respect of 25 appeals against the decision of the County Council to refuse assistance with home to school transport. For each appeal the Committee was presented with a Schedule detailing the grounds for appeal with a response from Officers which had been shared with the relevant appellant.

In considering each appeal the Committee examined all of the information presented and also had regard to the relevant policies, including the Home to Mainstream School Transport Policy for 2016/17, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

Appeal 4160

It was reported that a request for transport assistance had initially been refused as the pupil would not be attending their nearest suitable school, which was 1.50 miles from their home address and was within the statutory walking distance, and instead would attend their 9th nearest school which was 4.17 miles away. The pupil was therefore not entitled to free transport in accordance with the Council's policy or the law. The family were appealing to the Committee on the grounds that they had extenuating circumstances to warrant the Committee in exercising its discretion and award transport that was not in accordance with the Council's policy or the law.

In considering the mother's appeal the Committee noted that it was claimed that the parent had only been informed by the Council that there were two schools available with places in the year group required and that both schools were located within a specific area. The mother advised that she then researched the two specific schools and decided that the school now attended would suit the pupil's needs and GCSE choices the most. The mother felt it would not be appropriate to move the pupil now that they had commenced their GCSE studies.

The Council's protocol when dealing with such enquiries would look at the location of the home address and advise on the nearest school(s) available with places and as such the Committee was informed that the mother would have been offered places in the locality of where she lived rather than the locality of the two schools she had researched or presumably been advised of. The mother confirmed that at no time did she consider the logistics of transport or how the child would get to and from school, had she done so this information would have been made available by the Council at the time of speaking with them so that an informed decision could have been made by the mother.

The Committee was advised that three of the nearer schools to the new home address still had places available and were within the statutory walking distance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.