Agenda and minutes

None were received

None were received.

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 S Prynn declared a non-pecuniary interest in connection with appeals 4241 on the grounds that the appellants resided in her Electoral Division and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellants

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 6^th March 2017 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 4187 and 4247 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 it.

Resolved: That, appeals 4187 and 4247 were circulated to the Members of the Committee, to be considered alongside other appeals at the meeting.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on the 3^rd July 2017 at County Hall, Room B15b, Pitt Street, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Monday 3^rd July in the John O'Gaunt Room(Former County Mess), 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 16 appeals and 2 urgent business 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 2015/16, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

Appeal 4115

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 2.41 miles from their home address, and instead would attend their 6th nearest school which was 11.9 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 mothers appeal the committee noted that the family were seeking transport assistance as the School attended was the nearest school able to meet the pupil's education/medical needs.  The Committee were advised that all schools were able to offer the support that the mother stated the child may need, however the committee noted the officers' comments stating that the school attended had undertaken an assessment for the pupil and deemed that they did not need a EHC plan as the child was a high achiever and as such did not qualify for the assistance that a EHC plan would give to support the pupil.

The Policy states that transport assistance will only be applied to those children who attend their nearest suitable school that can provide suitable education for their age/aptitude etc.  The Committee noted that the family stated the school attended as 1^st preference and as such was awarded this school.

In considering the appeal further the Committee considered the family's financial circumstances noted that they were not in a position to decide if the family were on a low income as defined in law. No evidence had been provided to suggest that the family were unable to fund the cost of transport to school. It was also noted that the family were not eligible for Free School Meals.  The Committee considered all the individual reports submitted by the parents and did sympathise with the contents of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.