School and College Transport
Local Authorities have a duty where neccessary to make travel arrangements to enable eligible children to attend school. These arrangements must be free of charge for children of compulsory school age (5-16 years).
Gov.uk
Contact have created a useful podcast about home to school transport for 5-16 year olds, covering entitlement, how to apply, and if neccessary how to appeal. You can also find on their website more in depth information on their website by clicking on their name above.
Eligibility of Free School Transport
By law children of compulsary school age qualify for free school transport if they attend their nearest suitable school and meet any of the following:
- if under 8, their school is more than 2 miles away
- if over 8, their school is more than 3 miles away
- if there is no safe walking route between home and school
- if due to special educational needs or disabilty they cannot walk there
There is additional criteria for families with a low income, or for those who want their children to attend a school of particular faith. Local authorities may also provide free or subsidised travel to other children who do not fall into these groups - information about this will be set out in the individual area policies.
Links to information on Government eligibility legislation and Hull City Council's transport policy and can be found below.
Children with SEND
Types of Transport
Local authorities provide different types of transport, including taxis, minibuses, car millage allowance, travel cards or bus passes. In taxi's or minibuses an escourt may also be provided if this is deemed neccessary.
The local authority must consider the individual needs of the child in making suitable travel arrangements for them. Their statutory duty sets out that they should provide transport that enables a child "to reach school without undue stress, strain, or difficulty such as would prevent him from benefitting from the education the school has to offer, [...] [and to travel in safety and reasonable comfort"
What happens when my child goes to Post-16?
Local Authorities are not obliged to provide free transport to young people in post-16 education, but it must have a transport policy for this age group that sets out what travel arrangements are available to enable 16-19 year olds to participate in education or training. This will also apply to any young person over 19 that are continuing a course which they begun before their 19th birthday.
This policy must also consider the individual needs and distance/nature of the route of the young person in assessing their eligibility.
What can I do if I am unhappy with a transport decision?
Hull City Council set out thir appeal procedure in point 14 of their transport policy. A stage one complaint, as set out in their procedure can be made via Hull City Councils website under the "Customer Feedback and Complaints" section.
In addition to this HPCF regularly feedback information about services given to us by our members to council leaders and department heads. Please consider filling in our feedback form so that we can log issues and spot any trends that are happening in the city.