Home to school transport consultation
Home to School Transport Policy Review
Earlier in the year the Council consulted with parents, headteachers and schools to gauge initial opinions and ideas on the way forward for home to school transport for statutory aged children and this dialogue has continued over the summer.
The reason for this policy review is that Buckinghamshire needs to achieve savings of over £1.4m from home to school transport which will mean making changes to current policy. Historically, Buckinghamshire's approach to mainstream home to school transport is more generous than the current statutory requirements however the money simply is not there for this to continue.
The results of this initial consultation are available on the Council’s ‘Have Your Say’ web pages.
Mike Appleyard, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, has now produced revised proposals for the mainstream home to school transport policy based on these results and the discussions with parents and schools that took place over the summer. In this short film, Mike tells us more about why these changes need to be made:
Video: Mike Appleyard, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills
We would like to hear your views and comments on the proposals so please click on the link above to view the proposal and take part in the consultation. The consultation will run until 31 January 2012 to ensure that all parents have an opportunity to share their views and suggestions on the proposals.
Councillor Appleyard will also be running a series of drop-in sessions across the county for parents to come along and ask questions. The dates and venues are below.
| Date | Venue | Time | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov 11 | The Grange School, Aylesbury (HP21 7NH) | 5-7pm | ||
| 30 Nov 11 | Great Marlow School, Marlow (SL7 1JE) | 5-7pm | Totteridge Community Centre, High Wycombe (HP13 6UH) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 01 Dec 11 | Wingrave Combined School (HP22 4QG) | 5-7pm | John Colet, Wendover (HP22 6HF) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 07 Dec 11 | Princes Risborough School (HP27 0DT) | 5-7pm | Cressex School, Wycombe (HP12 4QA) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 13 Dec 11 | Iver Heath Junior School (SL0 9QA) | 5-7pm | Denham Village Infant School (UB9 5AE) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 17 Jan 12 | Woodside Junior School, Amersham (HP6 6NW) | 5-7pm | Chesham Town Hall, Council Chambers (HP5 1DS) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 18 Jan 12 | Burnham Upper School (SL1 7LZ) | 5-7pm | Beaconsfield High School (HP9 1RR) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 19 Jan 12 | Great Missenden C of E School (HP16 0AZ) | 6.30-8.30pm | ||
| 23 Jan 12 | Sir Henry Floyd School, Aylesbury (HP21 8PE) | 5-7pm | Haddenham Junior School (HP17 8DS) | 7.30-9.30pm |
| 25 Jan 12 | Buckingham Upper School (MK18 1AT) | 5-7pm | The Winslow Centre (MK18 3RB) | 7.30-9.30pm |
Background on the Initial Consultation (Spring 2011)
Following a series of four public meetings with parents and head teachers in June, Councillor Appleyard met with two groups of volunteers who had agreed to work with him further to find the best solution for changes to Home to School Transport Policy. Two working groups met on the 21st July and the papers used for those meetings are available below.
One is a presentation giving an overview of the issues at the time. The second is a series of fact sheets setting out some of those issues in more detail. One of these fact sheets lists the ideas for savings that were considered, many of which have been suggested by parents. Any savings will lessen the charges that need to be passed on to any pupils not eligible for transport under the new policy.
When the working groups met a particular focus was to look at fairness, so that we can ensure that any charges are levied in a fair and transparent manner, i.e. clarity on who pays, when, why, and how much. For example a particular issue is the charging structure.
Currently there are 16 price bands although technically a seat on a bus costs a fixed amount, and this is one of a number of things that will be reviewed. The current price structure for September 2011 is below.
For more information call 01296 383250 or email schooltransport@buckscc.gov.uk
Downloads (you may need Acrobat Reader to open)
- Consultation Document November 2011 (PDF 262KB)
- Home to School Presentation - July 2011 (PDF 168KB)
- Home to school transport fact sheets (PDF 55KB)
- Bucks Discretionary Fares 2011-12 (PDF 12KB)
- Home to Schools Transport Consultation FAQs - January 2012 Version 7 (PDF 68KB)
Related pages
Other useful websites (these sites will open in a new window)
We are not responsible for the content of external websites.
