Consultation on Hampshire County Council’s Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025-2026
Open until
Hampshire County Council is seeking residents’ and stakeholders’ views on its proposed Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025/26
Hampshire County Council is seeking residents’ and stakeholders’ views on its proposed Post-16 Transport Policy for the 2025/26 academic year.
The current Post-16 Transport Policy is available on this website, or you can view the policy document direct
The County Council is required by law to prepare and publish its Post-16 Transport Policy every year.
The Post-16 Transport Policy states that a parental contribution towards the cost of transport is required, and that this contribution will be uplifted annually by the March Consumer Price Index (CPI). As such, the Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025/26 will be updated to reflect the March 2025 rates by May 2025.
To provide an example, a rate of 2.2% (based on the 12 months to August 2024), has been used to indicate the potential change to the contributions for the 2025/26 school year. The indicative charges are included within the School Transport Policy 2025/26
Changes to the Post-16 Policy
Proposal 1: For a paragraph to be added to the Policy to clarify the evidence required to support an application
The Department for Education (DfE) Guidance requires local authorities to consider what arrangements are "necessary" to facilitate young people’s participation in education or training. Therefore, parents are required to provide evidence that without transport assistance, the student will be unable to attend the educational placement. In practice this means that the family must provide evidence that they cannot provide the necessary transport themselves.
Reasons such as the parent’s working pattern or the fact they have children attending more than one school or educational setting, will not normally be considered sufficient reasons for a parent being unable to provide the necessary transport for their child.
The County Council proposes to add a paragraph to the Policy to expand on the existing information about providing evidence to support an application.
Existing text
Transport will normally only be offered if the student has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or if the student has a disability which means they require transport arrangements to be provided. The student or their parents will need to apply for transport and provide evidence that the County Council must provide transport to facilitate attendance, and evidence that without transport assistance, the student will be unable to attend the educational placement.
Proposed text
A student will not normally be granted discretionary transport solely because their parents’ work commitments or caring responsibilities mean they are unable to transport the student to the educational placement. Reasons such as the parent’s working pattern or the fact they have children attending more than one school or educational placement, will not normally be considered sufficient reasons for a parent being unable transport a student.
Evidence that will be considered would include, but not be limited to, an employer letter regarding working arrangements or a letter from a medical practitioner.
Proposal 2: To make changes to the wording and formatting of the Post-16 Policy to make it clearer and easier to understand
Changes would include:
- Updating the terminology of the Policy to refer to ‘The County Council’ rather than ‘HCC’ or ‘The Local Authority’
- Apply consistent formatting to titles and paragraphs
- Use bullet points to break up lists of items
- Apply consistent cross-referencing between sections of the policy
- Minor grammatical changes where these would make the policy easier to read
Existing text
Information provided by Post-16 providers regarding transport services can be found in the section 12: College and School Details.
Proposed text
Information provided by Post-16 providers regarding transport services can be found in the College and School Details section of this Policy (section 12).
Existing text
When the student’s parents are in receipt of Income Support; income-based Jobseekers Allowance; income-related Employment and Support Allowance; support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit; Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190); Working Tax Credit run-on-paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit; or Universal Credit, the charge will be waived.
Proposed text
The charge will be waived when the student’s parents are in receipt of any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
- Universal Credit
The independent appeal panel will be made up of one or more members who will be independent of the original decision making process (but are not required to be independent of the local authority) and suitably experienced (at the discretion of the local authority), to ensure a balance is achieved between meeting the needs of the parents and the local authority, and that road safety requirements are complied with and no child is placed at unnecessary risk.
Proposed text
The independent appeal panel will be made up of one or more members who will be independent of the original decision making process (but are not required to be independent of the County Council), and suitably experienced (at the discretion of the County Council), to ensure a balance is achieved between meeting the needs of the parents and the County Council, and that road safety requirements are complied with and no student is placed at unnecessary risk.
How to have your say
This consultation is open from 4 November 2024 and closes at 11:59pm on 15 December 2024.
If you would like to comment on the proposed changes to the Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025/26, or give feedback on the potential impacts that this proposed Policy could have on you, users of Post-16 Transport, people you know, or your organisation, group or business then you can complete our response form.
School Transport Team
Elizabeth II Court
Winchester
SO23 8UG
If you require a paper copy of the proposed 2025/26 Post-16 Transport Policy, or require it in another language or format, or if you have any queries about the consultation, please submit a general enquiry on the School Transport online enquiry form, including the text ‘Post-16 Transport Consultation’ or phone 01962 846924, 9am to 5pm.
Responses received after the closing date/time will not be included in the consultation findings.
Calls from a landline will be charged at the local rate, and mobile phone charges may vary.
The consultation findings will be published and presented to the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services and Young People in early 2025 as part of the recommendations for the 2025/26 Post-16 Transport Policy.
Privacy Notice
Hampshire County Council is seeking your feedback on its proposed changes to the Council’s Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025/26. The information you provide in your response is being collected for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the County Council, and for reasons of substantial public interest. We will use the information to understand views on, and impacts of, proposed changes to the Post-16 Transport Policy for 2025/26. All data collected will remain within the UK. We will keep your personal information securely for one year, after which it will be deleted or destroyed.
You have some legal rights in respect of the personal information we collect from you. Please see our Data Protection page for further details. You can contact the County Council’s Data Protection Officer at [email protected]. If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.