Changes agreed to School Transport and Post-16 Transport Policies

Most of the changes are designed to provide greater clarity around the way the two transport services are delivered. Alongside some basic changes to policy wording, the County Council has also agreed to withdraw the formal offer of a Spare Capacity Seats Scheme in its School Transport Policy. This is a discretionary scheme which has previously allowed spare seats on contracted vehicles to be offered on a temporary, chargeable basis to children not eligible for free School Transport. As of December 2025, just nine children were using spare seats. 

The changes to the School Transport and Post-16 Transport Policies were approved respectively by Councillor Roz Chadd, the County Council’s Cabinet Lead Member for Children’s Services, and Councillor Steve Foster, Cabinet Member for Education, following two public consultations held towards the end of last year.

Together they commented: “Thank you to everyone who shared their views with us through the recent consultations. The School Transport Service is an incredibly important one for many families in Hampshire, and it is essential that we continue to prioritise this for eligible children including those with special educational needs and disabilities. The changes we have agreed today will remove any uncertainty surrounding spare seats and will also make it easier to understand how both the School Transport and Post-16 Transport services are delivered.”

The School Transport service is available to children of compulsory school age who meet national eligibility criteria, while the Post-16 service is for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) travelling to further education or training. The School Transport service is required by law while the Post-16 service is chargeable and offered on a discretionary basis.

The offer of a Spare Capacity Seats Scheme has created 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. Once allocated, spare seats may later be withdrawn if needed for an eligible child, or if the number of spare seats reduces due to an operational change.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 has therefore been a lack of clarity for parents on whether spare seats can be made available, and the withdrawal of spare seats part way through the year where needed has proven difficult for families. 

Following today's approval, both policies will now be updated during the current school term. The Spare Capacity Seats Scheme will immediately close to new applicants but remain in place until the end of the current academic year for the small number of existing users. The County Council may still allocate spare seats to non-eligible children in exceptional circumstances and at its discretion.

The authority will continue to meet its legal duties relating to School Transport.

Visit the County Council’s website for more information about the changes to the School Transport and Post-16 Transport Policies.