New School Travel Policies for 2025-26 approved
On Tuesday 28 January, Cabinet approved the proposed changes to the School Travel Service Policy and Post-16 Travel Service Policy Statement for 2025-26. The Policy sets out the council’s approach to the School Travel Service
The School Travel Service (STS) helps some children and young people get to and from school or their education setting using different types of travel support. As of December 2024, the service provides travel support to over 1,500 people to help them get to and from their education setting.
The service is part of the council's transformation ‘adapt | grow | thrive’ Schools, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) programme. The transformation of the STS will improve service delivery and performance, modernise systems and processes, and deliver cost control savings, whilst promoting travel independence.
The STS Policy has undergone some changes as we try to manage an increase in children and young people eligible for travel support to their education setting, and higher costs. This includes a review of, and update to, our Policy for school and post-16 travel support. Following the public consultation which took place in September and October 2024 for the 2025-26 Policy update, whilst continuing to align with the national statutory guidance, the following changes were agreed by Cabinet:
- Update wording and terminology to improve clarity
- Separate the Post-16 Travel Service Policy Statement for Young People and Young Adults to Support Education and Training from the School Travel Policy for Children of Compulsory School Age to make two separate documents to align with national statutory guidance
- Update the Personal Travel Budget
- Add a post-16 travel grant option, and a contribution charge where vehicle transport is provided, and include Pension Credit for means testing
- Work with post-16 education settings to offer 18 hours over three days for eligible post-16 students where possible, but that travel support will still be provided where education settings cannot meet this
- Evidence requirements for post-19 travel support, that other options for travel support and funding have been explored
- Remove travel support eligibility post-house-move where parents and carers want their children to remain at the same school. Further text has been added to the Policy to clarify that it will be unlikely to apply to children where travel support has been awarded on an exceptional basis
- Reduce in the notice period given if travel support is awarded in error
- Remove privilege places
- Increase the number of suitable schools that families must list on mainstream application forms if they wish to apply for travel support. Further text has been added to the Policy to clarify that it applies to applications for a school place in the normal admissions round
In addition, other proposed changes agreed as a result of consultation feedback include:
- Where transport is provided, due to the GCSE results being issued in August followed by enrolment planning, vehicle transport will be available from October to allow time to put the transport routes in place. Parents and carers and young people will need to make their own arrangements in September with mileage claimable
- Information in the School Travel Policy for children of compulsory school age about decelerated children and their entitlement to travel support to Year 11
Councillor Alexander Winning, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning said:
“I am pleased that Cabinet approved the two policies. It is important that we regularly review and update our School Travel Service Policy to ensure we are offering a high-quality service that aligns with the national statutory guidance and that children and young people are happy and safe as they travel to and from their education setting, whilst managing the rising number of children and young people eligible for school travel support and rising costs.
“The public consultation gave anyone who may be affected by the proposed changes to the Policy the opportunity to provide their comments. It’s great to see that additional changes are going to be made because of the consultation feedback, and I’d like to thank everyone who gave their time to have their say on the School Travel Service Policy”.
