Issue - decisions

DECISION MADE

I approvethat:

(i)            The full rate charge for post-16 transport will be increased from its current level of £446 to a new rate of £625 a year from September 2015. As at present, this will be payable either as a single amount in advance, or in eight instalments between August and March. It is not proposed to make any increase in the charge for low income families, which will remain at £156 a year. The proposal will also not affect students who require transport on the grounds of special educational needs or disability, to whom the current charges of £446 or £156 a year will continue to apply.

(ii)           The Council will continue to arrange transport for students in years 7 to 11 attending the Salisbury grammar schools, but the cost of doing so will be recovered by making a charge of £676 per annum per student. There will be no reduction in the charge for low income families, but the schools will be encouraged to provide bursaries for individual cases of need. Charges will be phased in starting in September 2015 and will apply only to new pupils starting at the school in September 2015 and each successive year.  The charge will be payable either as a single amount in advance, or in eight instalments between August and March.  The Council is required by legislation to continue to provide free transport for pupils up to age 16, either where the grammar school is their nearest available school, or where family income and distance from the school meet the ‘extended provisions’ criteria in the Education Act (where the child is in receipt of free school meals, or the family receive Working Tax Credit at the maximum level for their case, the Council is required to provide free transport to any one of the three nearest qualifying schools where the distance to the school is between two and six miles from their home).

(iii)          For post-16 students attending the grammar schools the countywide post-16 policy and charges will apply. Although the grammar schools will not be the designated school, all sixth form pupils at the grammar schools who currently receive transport will be eligible for assistance under the post-16 scheme because the cost to the Council of providing transport to the grammar school would be no greater than the cost of providing transport to Salisbury College (the designated FE college for the area). The charges would therefore be as in (i) above; £625 for those paying the full rate, and £156 for those entitled to a reduced rate pass. (This is a change to the original proposal which was that the £676 grammar school charge, with no reduction for low income families, would apply to all pupils at the grammar schools, including those attending the sixth form).

(iv)       The Council will cease accepting new applications for continuity transport with effect from January 2015, although in some cases assistance might still be sought on the grounds of exceptional circumstances.

This decision was published on 29^th December 2014 and will come into force on the 7^th January 2015.