Issue - meetings

Background:

This report outlined the outcomes of the consultation period on the Council’s proposals to make changes to the Education Travel Assistance Policy (ETAP), and Post-16 Transport Policy Statement with effect from 1 September 2025 and 1 September 2026, respectively.

The ETAP set out what the Council must do to facilitate travel to school and set out the eligibility criteria for granting that support.

The changes proposed aimed to improve customer understanding, awareness, and overall experience. Various sections, wording, and phrasing had been added or modified within the policies to clarify specific aspects or to provide information where this was previously missing. Amendments had also been made to the policies to more accurately reflect the statutory guidance from the government’s Department for Education (DfE).

The report had previously been considered by the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7 August 2025, the comments of which were set out at section 7 to the report.

A Diversity Impact Assessment was set out at Appendix 6 to the report.

Reasons:

The Education Travel Assistance Policy is developed within a national legal framework that sets out what local authorities must do to facilitate travel to school and sets out eligibility criteria for granting that support. The proposed actions maintain the Council’s position of working within the national legal framework.

The duty placed on the Council in respect of the provision of travel assistance to post 16 students requires a transport policy statement to be prepared and published in each year, by 31 May, detailing the provision being offered to SEND Post 16 young people.