Agenda and minutes

Also in attendance:

Ms L Brewer, Solicitor, Legal and Democratic Services;

Mr G Halsall, Business Support Officer, Legal and Democratic Services; and

Miss D Livesey, Business Support 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.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 2nd November 2015 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 3854, 3867 and 3944 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 3854, 3867 and 3944 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 10.00am on Monday 18^th January 2016 in Room B15b, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Monday the 18th January 2016 in Room B15b, 1st Floor 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 26 appeals and 3 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 3785

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 5.1 miles from their home address, and instead would attend their 10th nearest school which was 6.9 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 appeal the Committee noted that the appellant had been granted special guardianship for the pupil and their sibling two years ago. The Committee also noted the pupil's background and how the pupil's faith had assisted them in dealing with the problems in their life. The appellant therefore took the decision that the pupil would be best supported by remaining at the same faith school. Upon transfer in to secondary education the Committee noted that the pupil then transferred to what the appellant thought was their nearest faith school being the school now attended. In addition it was the pupil's own wish to attend the school now attended. The appellant felt that they were being discriminated against, as the pupil would get free travel if they attended their nearest school.

However, in considering the appeal further the Committee noted that the Council knew little about the pupil's background. As no information, evidence or detail had been provided to inform the Committee of the Special Guardianship Order they felt they could not consider this point in full. The Committee felt that there must have been some external and/or social services involvement with this pupil. The Committee could also not determine how vulnerable the pupil was given the circumstances. It was therefore suggested that the appeal be deferred in order to give the appellant the opportunity to provide any evidence in relation to the Special Guardianship Order and for officers in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.