Entitlement to free home-to-school transport

The general policy of the county council is that free transport is provided only for children of compulsory school age (5 years up to 16 years) who:

are under 8 years of age and live two miles or more from the school; or
are 8 years of age and over and live three miles or more from the school.

The ages are taken at 1 September in each school year.

Transport will normally be made available to the catchment area school or, if applicable, to a suitable school which is nearest to the pupils home. Free travel may also be offered if the catchment area school is full and a place has been offered by the County Council at another school which is over the distances mentioned above.

Transport assistance is only available to students who live in Suffolk and whose parents or guardians pay their council tax to a district or borough council in Suffolk.

Education and Inspections Act 2006

Under the Education and Inspections Act 2006, free home-to school transport will be provided to children aged between 8 and 11 years from low income families, who live more than 2 but under 3 miles from their catchment or nearest school.

Free home-to-school transport will also be provided to children aged 11 to 16, from low income families, who live more than 2 miles but less than 6 miles from their three nearest schools.

Where parents have expressed a preference for a school based on religion or belief, free home-to-school transport may also be provided to children aged 11-16, from low income families, who live more than 2 miles but no more than 15 miles from their school.

Transport to Academies

Where existing schools “convert” to Academy status, transport arrangements will be made in accordance with the above criteria. The catchment area of the school will be as defined by the local authority at the date of conversion.

Transport to “Free Schools”

Free Schools, where they are established, are additional to the existing pattern of schools in an area. In the case of such schools no catchment areas are in place and therefore the local authority will provide transport to the school in accordance with the above criteria where it is the nearest school to the student’s home.

Year 10 and Year 11 Students

From time to time students move home during Year 10 or Year 11 but continue to attend the same school in order to continue their studies. Transport will be provided to those students in accordance with the policy and arrangements set out above. However, exceptionally, where the change of address is involuntary the County Council will consider the provision of free transport on either a temporary basis until circumstances change, or until their course ends at the end of Year 11, using mainline or existing services.

Discretionary travel - children of compulsory school age

Transport assistance is only available to students who live in Suffolk and whose parents or guardians pay their council tax to a district or borough council in Suffolk.

If Suffolk County Council has any spare seats on contracted vehicles that are not used by children who qualify for free transport, these may be available to be purchased under the Discretionary Travel Scheme. The scheme operated in Suffolk can provide assistance to children, who do not otherwise qualify for free travel, by using spare seats on journeys the county council has arranged specifically for children entitled to free travel. However, this scheme does not extend to the offer of seats on public transport journeys or to other vehicles that have not been hired as a whole to carry out school transport journeys solely for the county council.

Parents whose children do not otherwise qualify for free home-to-school transport who would like them to travel on the transport should register an expression of interest which will then be forwarded to Passenger Transport to assess if there is spare capacity.

Where the offer of a seat can be made, this expression of interest will be confirmed, following completion of an application form, soon after the end of that term. Travel is conditional on the parents/carers accepting the terms and conditions of the offer and making a termly contribution toward the cost of the transport. A lower rate charge is made for shorter journeys to a catchment school, and a higher rate for journeys to non catchment schools.

From September 2011

The lower rate charge will be £150 per child per term
The higher rate charge will be £190 per child per term
Children who are resident in Suffolk who already receive exemption from the charges will continue to do so if their parents/carers are in receipt of income support; income based job seekers allowance; tax credit (in some cases); an NHS exemption certificate, or their residual income when certain living expenses have been taken into account, falls below a given threshold.
Children who have not previously been exempt from the charges will only be entitled to exemption if their family is in receipt of free school meals, income support, income based job seekers allowance or working tax credit at the maximum level.
Only a maximum of two children in any family are charged; third and subsequent children are exempt from the charge.

In all cases full terms and conditions of the discretionary travel scheme and the payment and exemption arrangements are set out when the offer of a seat on transport being arranged by the county council is confirmed.

For further information on discretionary travel for children of a compulsory school age, please click here

Discretionary travel scheme for post 16 students

Suffolk County Council does not provide free transport for any pupils over the compulsory school age, however we do operate a subsidised transport scheme for post 16 college or school sixth form students. Students who are offered transport assistance will be required to make a payment toward the cost of that transport each term in advance. This represents a contribution toward the cost – the county council and its partners will meet the balance.

Transport assistance will be available to those students who:

are over compulsory school age but under 19 years (also to those who are completing a course started prior to their 19th birthday);
undertake an approved full-time course of further education study (a full time course is one which involves a minimum of 450 guided study hours per year, approximately 12 guided hours per week, as confirmed by the providing school or college). The term “school” refers to a school maintained by a local education authority or a foundation school funded from public resources. The policy of travel assistance for sixth form students does not extend to independent schools; and
are normally resident in Suffolk.

Students must live in Suffolk (and pay their council tax to a district or borough council in Suffolk) and live at least three miles away from the school or college to be attended. Distances are measured by the shortest available walking route in accordance with the arrangements set out in the Education Act applicable to children of compulsory school age.

For further information on discretionary travel for post 16 students, please click here

Discretionary travel - Roman Catholic schools

Transport assistance is only available to students who live in Suffolk and whose parents or guardians pay their council tax to a district or borough council in Suffolk and who are a baptised Roman Catholic (or are adhering to the Roman Catholic faith).

To qualify for transport assistance pupils need to attend their “nearest” or “designated” Roman Catholic Schools as identified by the county council.

There will be no changes to eligibility policy for September 2011 however, revised transport arrangements for Roman Catholic students will be phased in from September 2012.

Students in receipt of transport assistance from September 2011 (or who are due to receive it on transfer to a Roman Catholic middle or upper/high school from that date) will continue to do so until they change school. At this point transport assistance will cease.

From September 2012 onwards no new students will be offered transport assistance, and neither will students who will be transferring to a different Roman Catholic school.

For further information on discretionary travel to Roman Catholic Schools, please click here

Students with learning disabilities and or disabilities

For students at special schools and for other students who have a learning disability, transport may be provided irrespective of the minimum distance and other criteria set in this policy, where it is accepted that transport is necessary to enable access to the education they require. Transport assistance may also be available for students undertaking a course at a college or a school sixth form. In other cases the advice about transport needs may also come from Connexions, Social Care, schools or other agencies.

For those students with a learning disability, transport assistance may be provided to students who begin a course after they reach the age of 19 years:

in such cases assistance through the arrangements agreed by the county council and its partners and set out in this statement would continue until the student is 21 years of age;

Transport to study for students with learning disabilities/difficulties aged 21-25.

For students who require assistance with transport, it is possible that some colleges in Suffolk may be able to assist through their Learner Support Grants. Please contact the colleges direct. Alternatively, District and Borough Councils operate the National Concessionary Fares Scheme for disabled persons. Contact your council direct.

Some students may be able to use their disability living allowance to support them with their transport needs. Further information is available Here

For further information on travel for students with learning disabilities or disabilities, please click here

Contact

For more information on Suffolk County Council home-to-school transport policies and the services provided telephone: 0845 606 6173 or visit www.suffolkonboard.com