Eligibility for transport assistance to a mainstream school

Your child must meet all the criteria to be eligible for transport assistance

Myself and my child have read and understood the Behaviour Code of Conduct. We understand that if eligible we are agreeing to adhere to this document.

1. Be of compulsory school age

Compulsory school age is the term following your child's fifth birthday until the end of the school year in which they turn 16 years of age.

There is no statutory entitlement to school transport until the term after your child’s fifth birthday.

2. Attend the nearest catchment school

The child must be attending the nearest catchment school or a school nearer to your home than the catchment school. Where parents name the designated catchment school as one of their 3 preferences and a place is not available, assistance may be offered to the next closest school, where the other qualifying eligibility criteria are met.

3. Live the appropriate distance from home to school

The distance from home to school must be:

  • the term following the child’s fifth birthday to the day before the child’s eighth birthday: more than two miles
  • from the child’s eighth birthday until they turn 16 years of age: more than three miles

The walking distance is measured by the nearest available walking route from where the property meets the adopted road, public footpaths, bridleways, and other pathways to the nearest available entrance to the school grounds. Where all the routes to the schools in question are beyond the statutory walking distances, the route to the schools will be measured by the nearest available road route, passable for a suitable motorised vehicle, when determining whether a non-catchment school qualifies as a nearer school.

My child meets the eligibility criteria and I need help getting them to school, how do I apply for transport assistance?

If your child meets the eligibility criteria and you need help getting them to school, you can apply for transport assistance.

My transport application has been rejected, what can I do now?

You are able to appeal our eligibility decision or the suitability of transport arrangements we have put in place.

Stage 1 Appeal

This provides an opportunity to request a senior officer review of the original decision made regarding eligibility for transport or the suitability of transport arrangements we have put in place. Due to the high volume of applications, we receive, it will not be possible to discuss your refusal over the phone.

Appeals will only be accepted on a formal appeal form. To obtain this email [email protected] including very brief details of the basis for the appeal. You must do this within 20 working days of receiving the eligibility decision.

Once you have received the formal appeal form you will be required to provide further information about why the decision should be reviewed and any additional evidence you want considered. You should note that if supporting evidence is submitted at a later date, the number of working days we have to consider will be reset.

Supporting evidence should clearly explain why a particular circumstance makes it difficult for you or your child to complete the journey to school. Examples of the type of professionals who could provide supporting evidence are:

  • GP, doctor or hospital consultant
  • Social Worker
  • Schools
  • Police
  • Health Visitor
  • Housing Officer
  • Probation Office

Once we have received your appeal and all supporting evidence, we will notify you in writing of the appeal outcome within 20 working days. This will include an explanation of:

  • whether we have upheld the local authority’s original decision
  • why we have reached that decision
  • how the review was conducted
  • the factors considered in reaching their decision
  • any other agencies or departments that were consulted as part of the review

Where we have upheld the original decision, you can choose to escalate your appeal to Stage 2 of the process.

Stage 2 Appeal

If you wish to escalate your appeal to Stage 2 then please email [email protected] to notify us. This information will also be outlined in your Stage 1 outcome letter.

You have 20 working days from receipt of the stage one written decision notification to make a written request, via email to escalate the matter to stage two.

Within 40 working days of receipt of the your request an independent appeal panel will consider written and verbal representations from both the parent and officers involved in the case and give a detailed written notification of the outcome (within 5 working days), setting out:

  1. the nature of the decision reached;
  2. how the review was conducted (including the standard followed e.g. Road Safety GB);
  3. information about other departments and/or agencies that were consulted as part of the process;
  4. what factors were considered;
  5. the rationale for the decision reached; and
  6. information about the parent’s right to put the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman

The independent appeal panel members 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.

As part of this process, you are also able to make a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if you believe the local authority has made a mistake in the way it has handled your case. If you consider the decision of the independent appeals panel to be flawed on public law grounds, then you may apply for a judicial review.

My child is not eligible for transport, what can I do now?”

If your child does not meet the eligibility criteria, there are many travel solutions available to residents of Hampshire.

You may be able to buy a spare capacity seat on contracted Hampshire County Council routes. Please note that this service will incur a cost to the user.