Later this month, the authority will recommend consulting on proposed changes to its current School Transport Policy, and its Post-16 Transport Policy for the 2026/27 academic year. These changes are separate to those recently agreed by Cabinet and are not expected to result in any savings, if approved.
The County Council runs two transport services for children and young people accessing school, further education or training. The School Transport service is required by law to provide free transport to children aged between five and 16 who meet national eligibility criteria. The authority also operates a chargeable Post-16 service which is provided in certain circumstances to young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This is not legally required so is offered on a discretionary basis, recognising that young people with SEND often need to travel further to access the most suitable placements and may sometimes need extra support with this.
Most of the County Council’s proposed changes to the two policies are designed to make them easier to understand and to provide greater clarity around the way both services are delivered. Alongside these basic changes to policy wording, the County Council is also proposing to withdraw the formal offer of a Spare Capacity Seats Scheme in its School Transport Policy. This is a discretionary scheme which allows spare seats on contracted vehicles to be offered on a temporary, chargeable basis to children who are not eligible for free School Transport.
The current offer of a Spare Capacity Seats Scheme creates an expectation that spare seats can be provided. However, this cannot be fulfilled if the available seats on a given vehicle are all in use by eligible children. Even once allocated, spare seats may later be withdrawn if needed for an eligible child, or if the number of spare seats reduces due to an operational change. There is therefore a lack of clarity for parents on whether spare seats can be made available.
Following the changes recently agreed by Cabinet, the County Council will seek to further maximise the use of vehicles to prioritise eligible children, making the future availability of spare seats even less likely.
Additionally, the administration associated with the scheme is significant and far outweighs the small number of students who benefit from it, with just 66 spare seats in use as of June 2025.
The recommendation to consult on the policy changes will be considered by Councillor Roz Chadd, the County Council’s Cabinet Lead Member for Children’s Services, at her upcoming Decision Day on Wednesday, 15 October.
Should the consultations go ahead and the policy changes ultimately be agreed, the County Council may still allocate spare seats to non-eligible children in exceptional circumstances and at its discretion. Regardless of any decisions, the authority will continue to meet its legal duties relating to School Transport.
Visit the County Council’s website for more information about the proposed consultations on the School Transport and Post-16 Transport Policies.