Agenda item

Purpose of report: To review the handling of applications for Home to School Travel Assistance at the start of the 2023/24 academic year, after a learning review that followed a change in policy implemented in 2022.

Witnesses:

Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning

Rachael Wardell, Executive Director – Children, Families & Learning

Gerry Hughes, Interim Assistant Director – Support Services (Home to School)

Chris McShee, Travel and Assessment Team Manager

Lucy Clements, Director – CFL Commissioning

Liz Mills, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

Leanne Henderson – Participation Manager, Family Voice Surrey (remote)

Kate Goode – Participation Manager, Family Voice Surrey (remote)

Key points made in the discussion:

1. The Participation Managers from Family Voice Surrey gave a short presentation on Home to School Travel Assistance. They noted that Family Voice had seen good progress but highlighted that families were still experiencing communication issues with the transport team. The Chair thanked Family Voice for the informative presentation.

2. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Lifelong Learning thanked Family Voice for their engagement with the transport team and the production of the parent guide. She noted that issues brought up in the survey were issues the sector faced as a whole. 

3. A Member asked a question on independent travel allowance. The Participation Manager answered that parents were now being paid for four journeys instead of two a day.  However, the allowance did not consider the cost of vehicle maintenance. The Participation Manager noted that it was difficult to find drivers who were understanding of complex needs and stressed the importance of the independent travel allowance.

4. A Member asked if plans in place since the results of last year’s Family Voice Survey had had the desired impact. The Member stressed that many children did not have travel arrangements in time for the start of term. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) answered that 31 July was the cut-off for applications for transport arrangements but that when applications were received late, the service had a 30-day turnaround. The Interim Assistant Director said she hoped to make significant improvements to the process in time for the next academic year.

5. A Member asked if applications within timescales deteriorating between July (2%) and September/October (8%) were expected or normal. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) noted that the rise was due to an unprecedented volume of applications and the Home to School Transport team expected elevated levels in August.

6. A Member asked if the service was measuring adherence to the policy of having travel arrangements in place within six weeks of an application.  The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) answered that applications were assessed within 20 days and arrangements confirmed seven days before the start of term. The Member asked if parents were updated on plans between application and term starting. The Interim Assistant Director said that parents who had applied early were alerted with an update in August.

7. A Member asked how the SEND and Home to School Transport teams communicated and if there were aspirations for better communication. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) explained that she met with the Director for Education and Lifelong Learning on weekly basis and had a Microsoft teams chat. This year they had seen a marked improvement in collaboration. The Travel and Assessment Team Manager noted that access to information had been better and weekly meetings had resulted in better key stage transfers.

8. A Member asked why vehicles were travelling 5% further in 2023/24 when the strategy was to reduce distance travelled and reduce journey times. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) answered that the timing did not take in variables such as getting children on and off vehicles or road works. The Member asked if the transport team received highway work plans to better plan routes. The Interim Assistant Director said they did not receive anything currently, but schools alerted the team on areas around the school that had changed, the legacy systems used currently did not have live data.

9. A Member queried the high turnover of drivers. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) noted that the service had struggled to find skilled drivers who could meet the demand of transport for children with additional needs. The Interim Assistant Director emphasised that the service was working to provide greater stability for children and families.

10. A Member asked how the Council could enable parents to arrange their own school transport for monetary compensation. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) answered that the Council was doing this through the Personal Travel Budget pilot. Feedback received so far was positive and indicated it made more financial sense than other travel arrangements.

11. A Member asked who was consulted on which children needed their own solo taxi. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) answered that the parameter around solo arrangements came down to medical needs. Case Officers also utilised the advice of schools on whether children needed certain arrangements.

12. A Member asked how safeguarding incidents were being logged and actioned. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) noted that incidents were logged throughout the year and the most appropriate next steps such as suspensions were discussed in whole team meetings. The Chair noted concern about the timeliness of the process. The Executive Director for Children, Families & Learning said that swift action in line with statutory process must be taken when a safeguarding concern was raised. Ensuring the safety of the child was the utmost priority.

13. A Member asked what the scale of the issue of providing off-site Alternative Provision was. The Interim Assistant Director Support Services (Home to School) noted that there were 250 children in this year’s cohort, and most required solo arrangements. This was costly and logistically difficult as children had different finish times for different schools. The Interim Assistant Director noted that new draft guidelines were being produced and would be completed in the next couple of months after consultation with Alternative Learning providers. 

Actions/requests for further information:

1. The Interim Assistant Director -Support Services (Home to School) to provide a written answer on what proportion of journeys meet the maximum guidance of 45 minutes for primary school children and 75 minutes for secondary school children.

Resolved:

The Committee:

1. Endorses all the recommendations in the Family Voice Surrey report and requests that they provide an update to the Committee on progress against each recommendation at the June 2024 committee meeting.

2. Welcomes ongoing efforts to join up the SEND and H2STA processes and recommends these are pursued so that when decisions on placements are made, there is visibility of the transport implications at an early stage to facilitate effective planning and ensure that families are informed of transport arrangements as early as possible.

3. Recommends that a KPI is introduced – and reported to each Select Committee meeting from April 2024 onwards – to monitor compliance with the Service Level Agreement that for in-year applications, transport is arranged and communicated to families within 10 working days of eligibility being confirmed.

4. Recommends that for applications submitted by 31 July, families are notified what home to school transport has been arranged no later than 7 days prior to the start of term. Performance should be monitored and reported to each select committee meeting from April 2024 onwards.

5. Recommends that a replacement for the Mobisoft route planning system is investigated as a priority. An updated route planning system to enable efficient pupil pick-up and drop-off sequencing, as well as taking into account traffic and road conditions, would improve journey times for children and young people and ensure that route costs are managed effectively.

6. Recommends that a cost analysis is undertaken to interface all the software packages used in the home to school travel process, in view of the budget sub-group’s finding that eight stand-alone systems are currently being used throughout the process. Replacing both the outdated dynamic purchasing system as well as the route planning system have the potential to generate efficiencies.