Agenda item

As detailed in recommendation (2). Recommendation (1) to be amended to the following:

(1)       That from September 2020 the termly charge for post-16 transport should be set at a maximum of £150 per term;

            All students entitled to free school meals should receive free transport to school or college.  This measure should be paid for by the Council funds – not from the charge for transport – as a discretionary benefit;

            That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, the Council should examine the possibility of operating a hardship fund for supporting families where access to education is denied due to the charge through extenuating circumstances, noting the continuation of free transport entitlement under the free school meal criterion;

            That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, as suggested by the Liberal group, the Council should examine the possibility of a form of ‘Oyster’ type pre-payment card which would allow residents who cannot pay the termly charge to top up their card on a regular basis; and

            That post-16 is defined to be years 12 and 13 in school year terms, and only extended in exceptional circumstances.

Councillor Roberts introduced the report which summarised the outcome of the consultation on discretionary school and college transport policy areas of post 16 provision and benefits entitlement which took place in December 2018. 

Full details of the consultation were outlined in the report; the report had also been submitted to the Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the feedback from that meeting was also included in the report.  Councillor Roberts read out the following statement:

            “Members, I believe that the decision we are faced with is extremely challenging.  We, as a council, have prided ourselves on making post-16 education accessible to all and in having one of the lowest ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET) rates in Wales.  However, we know that as a local authority and following 10 years of austerity, we spend far more, in net cost, than other local authorities on transport including transport to schools and colleges.   We must recognise that the results of the consultation were a call for no change to the current policy as people were inevitably reluctant to pay more for local services if it could be avoided.

            Unfortunately, there is no such thing as free school or college transport – free for the user means that the council tax payer in general has to foot the bill.  I recognise that there is school transport which we are required to pay for and the many anomalies on transport policy in practice which have grown up over the years.  Unfortunately, post-16 transport is one of these free services, phased out in many other local authorities, which is no longer sustainable.  It currently costs about £750,000 per academic year to maintain.

            I thank our Head teachers and College representatives who spoke on behalf of the Secondary Heads Federation, and the colleges for recognising the financial challenge we face as a council and for reluctantly supporting a charge, with some mitigation measures.  I also thank the Members of the Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the debate they had and decisions that they took which again recognised that there would have to be a charge with some mitigation measures.  This leaves the decision for us today.  I would therefore move the following:

·         That from September 2020 the termly charge for post-16 transport should be set at a maximum of £150 per term;

·         All students entitled to free school meals should receive free transport to school or college.  This measure should be paid for by Council funds – not from the charge for transport – as a discretionary benefit;

·         That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, the Council should examine the possibility of operating a hardship fund for supporting families where access to education is denied due to the charge through extenuating circumstances, noting the continuation of free transport entitlement under the free school meal criterion; and

·         That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, as suggested by the Liberal Democrat group, the Council should examine the possibility of a form of ‘Oyster’ type pre-payment card which would allow residents who cannot pay the termly charge to top up their card on a regular basis.

I would hope that during the year before the introduction of the charge that we work with Coleg Cambria to maintain their share of the transport costs.  I would further propose that post-16 is defined to be years 12 and 13 in school year terms, and only extended in exceptional circumstances.”

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) concurred that this was not an easy decision for Members but the status quo was not sustainable in the current financial climate.  She stressed the importance of learners being treated with equity and re-iterated the proposals that children who received free schools meals would continue to receive free transport to school or college. 

The Chief Officer (Governance) added that the inability to pay should not be a barrier to education and the retention of providing free transport to those who received free school meals, plus the hardship fund, would ensure that all learners were treated the same.  In addition to the exploration of a pre-payment card, the Council could also explore whether direct debit could be an option as part of ‘My Account’.

The Chief Executive added that the Council would still be required to pay for a discretionary element for both free transport entitlement and for any hardship fund.  Any such fund would need to be applied consistently and would be challenging for the Authority to administer.  He said if Welsh Government (WG) wanted to ensure learners had access to education then transport should be fully funded by WG under a statutory instrument.

All Members agreed with the proposals by Councillor Roberts, recognising that this was a decision required due to the extremely challenging financial climate that the Council was in, and had been for a number of years.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That:

                      I.        From September 2020 the termly charge for post-16 transport should be set at a maximum of £150 per term;

                    II.        All students entitled to free school meals should receive free transport to school or college.  This measure should be paid for by Council funds – not from the charge for transport – as a discretionary benefit;

                   III.        That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, the Council should examine the possibility of operating a hardship fund for supporting families where access to education is denied due to the charge through extenuating circumstances, noting the continuation of free transport entitlement under the free school meal criterion;

                  IV.        That during the year between now and the introduction of the charge, as suggested by the Liberal Democrat group, the Council should examine the possibility of a form of ‘Oyster’ type pre-payment card which would allow residents who cannot pay the termly charge to top up their card on a regular basis;

                   V.        That post-16 is defined to be years 12 and 13 in school year terms, and only extended in exceptional circumstances; and

(b)       That negotiations be re-opened with Coleg Cambria on the level of recharged cost for the discretionary transport service.