Agenda and minutes

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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.

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Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 03^rd December 2018 is to be confirmed as an accurate record and to be signed by the Chair

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 03^rd December 2018 were confirmed as an accurate record and 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.

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 609861, 4570 and 4579 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 609861, 4570 and 4579  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 11^th March 2019 at County Hall, Preston (room to be confirmed).

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10:00am on Monday 11^th March 2019.

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.

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.

(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.

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.

Appeals 4530

It was reported that a request for transport assistance had initially been refused as the pupil was not  attending their nearest suitable school, which was under the statutory walking distance of 3 miles for the age of the pupil, but was attending the school of parental preference which was over 20miles away from the home address.  The pupil was therefore not entitled to free transport in accordance with the Council's policy or the law. The appellant was appealing to the Committee on the grounds that they had extenuating circumstances to warrant the Committee exercising its discretion and award transport that was not in accordance with the Council's policy or the law.

In considering the appeal further the Committee noted that the appellant was appealing on financial grounds.  The Committee noted that the appellant stated they were on a low income and as such were entitled to extended transport provision.

The policy states that if you have a low income and your child is in Year 7 to 11 in secondary school, we may be able to provide free transport if they go to one of their three nearest schools. For your child to receive free transport, the school must be between 2 and 6 miles away from your home.  The committee noted that the school the pupil attended was 20.13 miles from the home address was not one of the three nearest school to the home address.

In considering the family’s circumstances the Committee noted that the appellant was a single parent and stated they suffered from long term sickness problem. The appellant had requested the Committee to reconsider the outcome of the initial transport assessment.

The Committee noted the Officer's comments which stated it is parental preference for schools and academies and the application of admission arrangements linked to these which informs and drives the subsequent application of the Local Authority's home to school to transport policy.  The Council has no statutory duty to provide transport assistance in circumstances where pupils do no attend their nearest school or academy.

It was noted by the Committee that eligibility to receive transport assistance was assessed by determining the distance between a child's home and the nearest school they could attend.  This measurement is taken from the nearest boundary entrance of the pupil's home to the nearest entrance to the school.

The Committee were advised that admissions information is available for all parents from the beginning of admission term and parents are advised to check the policy carefully if home to school transport is an important  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.