School Travel Pathfinder bid outcome and next steps - Home to School Transport | |
Report of the Director of Children's Services and Director of Environment | |
Contact: Roger Mead, Project Director, Children's Services Dept; tel no:01962 847255; email: roger.mead@hants.gov.uk
1 Summary
1.1 This report informs Cabinet of the decision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to not proceed with the pathfinder pilot and suggests ways forward in the medium term using existing funding. The report also updates Cabinet on the progress and achievements of the four current pilots which help shape the pathfinder bid..
2 Recommendations
2.1 That Cabinet:
(a) note the outcome of the Pathfinder submission and the Leader's response
(b) agree that pupils attending Park View Infant and Junior schools whom are entitled to free school meals or from families in receipt of the maximum level of Working Families Tax Credit and those with special needs as defined under the Disabilities Discrimination Act, be granted free places from September 2008 subject to space being available
(c) agree continuation of the original pilot schemes through to the envisaged end date of Summer 2010, in accordance with the business case
(d) receive a further report in September 2009 to determine the longer term approach to home to school transport provision
3 Background
3.1 When Cabinet first considered developing new initiatives to home to school transport in 2006 it set out a number of key objectives:
· To reduce school gate and local area congestion
· To promote greater choice in Education especially for the least privileged
3.2 As one of the provisions of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 the Government made funding available for Local Authorities who wish to become home to school transport pathfinders. This new funding was designed to assist pathfinder authorities in offering a range of good quality, cost-effective alternatives to the family car on the home to school journey for those children who are not currently entitled to free home-to-school transport.
3.3 The application was submitted as required by 30 November 2007. Each Pathfinder Scheme had to have a number of compulsory features:
· Transport arrangements that support parental preference;
· Transport arrangements that support pupils living more than 2 miles from school; and
· Reducing levels of car use on the home to school journey.
3.4 In preparation for the Pathfinder bid the County Council piloted a small number of schemes in Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Waterside and Farnborough, looking at ways that new transport could be introduced, how existing services could be better used and how more pupils could be encouraged to walk and cycle to school.
3.5 Following extensive consultation a report was presented to Cabinet on 29 October 2007 and a Pathfinder bid approved.
3.6 On 26 March 2008 the Leader received a letter from the Department for Children, Schools and Families informing the County Council that no authority had been successful, that Ministers had decided to not proceed with the pathfinder pilot and that they will consult with the Local Government Association to consider alternative ways forward. A copy of that letter and the Leader's reply are attached as appendix 1.
4 The outcome: implications for the four pilots
4.1 The submission, had it been successful, would have achieved two key aims
· To reduce the congestion associated with the number of journeys to school by car
· Improve educational choice
4.2 The four pilots were based on the following approaches which recognised that the diversity of Hampshire required a menu of choice and not one solution:
· Dedicated services delivered by specially adapted yellow buses using bus livery developed by pupils
· Improvements to scheduled bus services, through a `BusIT' scheme, providing students with a personal information pack with pocket timetable, money-saving vouchers and a link to a website and personalised journey planner, along with simplified ticketing and retiming of some services, all in partnership with schools and operators, whilst avoiding a switch from walking and cycling
· Improvements to home to school travel services also with `BusIT' branding and scheme features, further utilising new technology and anticipating future advances which will aid pupil attendance and safety
· Walking and cycling in partnership with external organisations and a district council
4.3 Appendices 2,3 (which covers two pilots)and 4 provide an update on each, progress and achievements to date.
· It is worth noting that the 3 Yellow Buses saved 25 car journeys per day on average, has been commended by the Yellow Bus Commission for the way everyone worked together with clearly stated objectives, has reduced congestion outside of schools and improved pupil attendance.
· The Scheduled Services and BusIt pilots attracted 30,000 BusIt journeys in the first year, has reduced congestion outside of schools and has led to one large secondary school identifying measures to improve access for cyclists.
· The Walking and Cycling pilot covers ten schools, with a total of 3446 pupils. Within approximately seven weeks of the pilot starting, the number of vehicles outside the schools had decreased by 7%.
4.4 From the yellow bus pilot in Basingstoke it is clear that whilst the buses serving the Kempshott schools are proving very successful and popular, the one serving Park View is less so. One option that had been discussed at Cabinet during initial consideration of the principle of applying for Pathfinder funding, was to extend entitlement to provide free transport to those pupils entitled to free school meals. It is therefore proposed that this be reconsidered with a view to agreeing this free provision from September 2008. Any financial consequence would be met from the existing budgetary provision
4.5 The existing budgetary provision agreed by Cabinet will allow the continuation of the pilots and the proposed free travel provision for some Park View pupils, through to the end of the 2009/10 financial year and possibly through to the end of the summer term 2010 (end of academic year 2009/10). Robust budget monitoring will ensure that costs are contained within agreed provision and a report presented to Cabinet in September 2009 to ensure an open and transparent end to the pilots if that is the decision taken at that time.
4.6 Maintaining the pilots would contribute to all three of Hampshire's corporate priorities: being safer and more secure for all; enhancing our quality of place through reduced congestion and pollution; and maximising wellbeing in support of the County Council's corporate priorities.
It also supports the following outcomes of the Children Act:
Be Healthy
Stay Safe
Enjoy and achieve
5 Legal implications
5.1 None.
6 Financial implications
6.1 The current budgetary provision in 2008/09 and 2009/10 is £500,000 in each of the financial year and will enable the four pilots to be sustained through to March 2010. Robust financial management may allow for some or all the pilots to operate through to July 2010, the end of the academic year. The proposed report back in September 2009 will include an updated assessment of that option.
7 Personnel implications
7.1 The current Project Board will continue to oversee the pilots. Upon the retirement, in July, of the current project director it is proposed the Director of the Environment nominate in close liaison with the Director of Children's Services, an officer to lead the continued implementation of the pilot projects. The other members of the project board will continue. All personnel costs would be met by the existing funding provision.
7.2 Progress of the pilots will be shared with the school travel and transport steering group (established to ensure close cross-departmental working on the delivery of the Home to School elements of the Education and Inspections Act 2006). The group, consisting of senior officers from both Departments, liaises on a regular basis with the Executive Member for Children's Services and the Executive Member for Environment and will in turn be able to discuss progress of the pilots.
8 Impact assessment
8.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified at this stage.
9 Crime prevention issues
9.1 The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report have taken that into account.
10 Views of the Local County Councillor
10.1 The pilots cover several geographical areas and during the extensive consultation prior to the pathfinder bid a e web-based consultation document was sent to all Hampshire county councillors and all district council leaders in Hampshire. (Hard copies of the documentation were sent to councillors who do not access email.) Responses from councillors were reported alongside other consultation results prior to Cabinet agreeing the submission.
LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY | ||
Yes |
No | |
Hampshire safer and more secure for all |
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Maximising well-being |
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Enhancing our quality of place |
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Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents
The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.
NB: the list excludes
1. Published works
2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.
The DfCSF documentation and guidance on Pathfinder application