Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided details of the outcome of consultation on a proposal to introduce a new policy on how Medway fulfilled its statutory duties in supporting the transport arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN). The main differences in the proposed new policy, which would take effect from 1 January 2013, for new entrants, were set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report.

The report stated that there were 136 responses to the consultation and an analysis of the responses was set out in Appendix B to the report. It was noted that some of the concerns raised demonstrated a misunderstanding of the wording and the legal framework outlined in the policy, therefore, this had been made more user friendly in the final draft of the Policy, which was attached at Appendix A to the report.  

The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered this report on 17 July 2012 and its comments were set out in paragraph 9 of the report.

A Diversity Impact Assessment screening had been carried out on the draft Policy which was set out in Appendix C to the report. It showed that Medway would continue to meet its statutory duties and the policy change did not discriminate unfairly on any particular group in Medway. Children and young people would continue to have their needs met albeit, for some, this would be discharged in a different way. An implementation plan would be drawn up in order to give parents and carers sufficient notice of specific changes to their child’s mode of transport/ transport arrangements.

Reasons:

The current policy was outdated and required revision to ensure compliance with legislation. The practice in Medway was also out of step with other local authorities. The changes within the proposed policy would enable better value for money as well as support independence.