Home to school travel FAQs

The current population at compulsory school age (five to 16) of schools in North Yorkshire is approximately 75,000 pupils and the number of those accessing free home to school travel assistance is approximately 10,000. Therefore, our policy and provision of free transport services is currently a factor for broadly 13% of the pupil population aged five to 16, and for approximately 87% it is not.

Yes. We are doing that and we will continue to lobby the government for funding for rural authorities. However, public finances being as they are, we cannot rely on more funds being given to us.

No-one will lose their current travel assistance provision unless there is a change in circumstances after the 1 September that requires a re-assessment of travel eligibility. There will be measures in place to support low-income families.

The changes to the Home to School Travel Policy will not have any impact upon the schools’ admissions arrangements and parents and carers will continue to have the right to exercise choice in making an application for a school place for their child.
 
However, the change in the Home to School Travel Policy will mean that assistance with travel, for those pupils who are eligible, will only be provided to the nearest suitable school (with available places). In some cases, this will be a school that is outside North Yorkshire.
 

A consultation took place from 12 February 2024 to 26 April 2024.  All responses from the online consultation, drop-in sessions, MP, Parish and Town Council views, Councillor views and school feedback were considered. 

The consultation, including the survey, was available on our website but was also promoted through a number of different channels, including:

• pre-consultation briefings with headteachers and school leaders 
• email distribution to schools, asking them to pass the link on to families through their own newsletters/ email services
• email distribution to all registered early years providers in the county
• email distribution to neighbouring local authorities
• webinars with primary, secondary and special schools
• group and individual meetings with schools and councillors when requested
• links to the online consultation were sent to all parish councils in the county
• 16 public face-to-face events in venues across the county - these were held during the day and in the evenings 
• promoted through the local media and also through our own social media channels

Responses

A total of 1,299 responses were received to the online survey. Of these, 800 consultation responses included detailed written statements in a ‘free text’ question within the survey. Copies of all of the written statements are attached to this report. 

Yes. We included them in the consultation process.

We have explored all avenues and continually review contracts and procurement processes to ensure that there are efficiencies made and we are achieving value for money. 

In parallel to the policy review, there are working groups reviewing and improving data and systems relating to all elements of the travel assistance.

Consideration was given to a fixed cut-off date for the implementation of the new policy; however, this was ruled out by officers and Councillors due to the impact on families and schools, and a phased implementation was approved. 

We will be publishing a sustainable modes of travel plan each year setting out our vision for sustainable travel to schools. We will be working with schools and other educational settings to identify how this can be promoted and facilitated.

In terms of admissions to school, parents will continue to be able to preference any school of their choice and the admission arrangements for the school will continue to determine who has priority for a school place. This is not changing. Applications for a school place from families living in the admissions catchment area for a school will still have priority for a school place over those who live outside the admissions catchment area.   

We are responsible for setting term dates for our maintained community, voluntary controlled and community special schools and maintained nursery schools; The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) regulations 1991 require all maintained schools to educate their pupils for at least 380 sessions (190 days) in each school year. These regulations do not apply to academies and free schools; the academy trust is responsible for deciding the length of the school year. 

It is hoped that for consistency across North Yorkshire all schools adopt the same recommended term dates. Furthermore, we are part of the group of local authorities across the area that have agreed a set of guiding principles - the aim of which is to achieve more consistent holiday dates across local areas.  

A consultation on the draft calendar for future academic years is proposed each year with all schools, academies, professional associations and interested parties. After the consultation, the calendar is presented to the Children and Young People's Service Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills for consideration and approval.

If an application has been made during the normal admissions round and you have made a preference for your nearest school, and the admission authority is unable to offer a place, then the next nearest school with places available is their nearest suitable school for school travel purposes. 

Here is an example provided by the Department for Education that answers this: Child M is 11 years old and attends the second nearest secondary school to their home. It is 4.2 miles away. Their nearest secondary school is 3.7 miles from their home. Their parents applied for this school, but it was oversubscribed, and they were not offered a place. Child M is eligible for free travel to school as they are attending their nearest suitable school with available places.  

Where a parent does not list the nearest school, the council will not normally provide transport to any other school. The exception to this is where a pupil is eligible on low-income criteria. 

A child is eligible for free travel to school if: 

• they attend their nearest suitable school, and  
• it is within the statutory walking distance of their home, and
• they could not reasonably be expected to walk there because of their special educational needs, disability, or mobility problem, even if they were accompanied by an appropriate adult   

To be eligible on these grounds, a child does not need to: 

• have an Education Health and Care plan; or
• have travel to school specified in their Education Health and Care plan if they have one; or 
• attend a special school; or 
• live beyond the statutory walking distance

Not every child with an Education Health Care plan or who attends a special school will be eligible for free travel to school.  

To qualify for eligibility on the grounds of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems, we will complete an individual assessment of the child, and this will take into account the child’s physical ability to walk to school, and any health and safety issues related to their special educational needs, disability, or mobility problems. We may also take into account whether the child would be able to walk to school if they were accompanied by an appropriate adult. We will consider each case on its facts.

Councillors approved the new home to school travel policy on 24 July 2024. The consultation period is now closed.

We are delivering on our statutory requirements with regards to home to school travel. The new policy is designed to be fair to all families, responsible and affordable. This won’t affect the provision of education.
 
We face a £48 million shortfall in our overall council budget and need to bring our policy in line with that offered by many other councils to ensure it and other essential frontline services are sustainable.

Providing school transport has become the third-largest expenditure for us at £51 million a year – behind adult social care and waste management – and has more than doubled since 2018 to 2019. We have statutory duties to balance our budget and deliver statutory services within the resources we have available. We have a duty to fully consider how we can continue to deliver statutory services and ensure that the services are sustainable into the future.

If we did nothing, then the rising cost of home to school travel could have a crippling effect on the other services we must deliver by law. 

We understand the concerns from parents and carers around transporting children and young people to the school of their choice, as well as concerns if siblings will attend different schools due to travel costs. However, parents and carers still have a choice as to where to send their children. It is important for them to now factor in travel costs if they choose a school that is not their nearest school. The online tool will be available from 1 September to help determine which is their nearest school. 

The new policy ensures we are legally compliant, and importantly means we can manage the escalating costs of this service while protecting those who are most in need of our help. The new policy ensures equality and transparency of provision for parents and children.

It brings us in line with several similar and neighbouring local authorities such as Buckinghamshire, Cheshire and Chester West, Durham, West Berkshire, Lancashire, Leeds, Redcar and Cleveland, Darlington, Wakefield and Bradford.