Agenda and minutes

None.

None

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

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 20^th January 2020 were confirmed as an accurate record and were 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.

46734

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on 20^th April at County Hall, Preston.

To be confirmed asap.

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(Not for Publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.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Please note that due to the confidential nature of the information included in this report it will not be published on the website.

(Not for Publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.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.

4734

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 5.26 miles from the home address.  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.

The Committee noted the appellant was appealing on Medical, Financial and Educational continuity grounds.  The Committee were advised that the pupil had been awarded as a result of a previous appeal held on the 5^th November 2018 a temporary award of a travel pass up to the end of Summer Term 2019.

The Committee noted that the appellant was again appealing under the same grounds as previous and has included the following evidence to support their case for travel assistance for the pupil who was now in year 8 at the preferred school of choice.

·  Benefit award letter, pages 3 and 4 only supplied – giving details of the award up to the end of March 2020.

·  E-mail from Key Worker dated 2^nd December 2019.

·  Letter from appellant asking for another appeal.

·  Virgin Care letter dated November 2019 – detailing appointment for Pupil.

·  NHS Letter – detailing appointment for the pupil dated November 2019

·  NHS Letter – detailing appointment for the appellant dated November 2019.

The Committee noted that the school awarded was the 1^st preference of school when applying for a year 7 place and that the pupil had been awarded 1^st choice of school.

It was noted by the Committee there was an additional entitlement to transport assistance for low income families.  If parents are in receipt of the qualifying benefits for free school meals or the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. The pupil was not attending one of their 3 nearest schools between 2 and 6 miles.  The Committee noted that the pupil attends the 4^th closest school to the home address and as thus did not qualify under this extended low income element of the transport policy.

It was explained to the Committee, assessing a pupil's eligibility to receive transport assistance was a two part process.  Firstly, a pupil's nearest school, for transport assessment purposes, is determined.  This is the school that is closest to the pupil's home, measured by the shortest walking or road routes, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.