Essex County Council to begin consultating on Home to School Transport

On Monday 16 September Essex County Council will begin a formal public consultation into the discretionary elements of its Home to School Transport policy.

The consultation will run for 6 weeks, ending on Friday 25 October.  Responses are sought from schools, governing bodies, teaching staff, parents, pupils, carers and guardians, prospective parents, post 16 institutions and any individuals with an interest in Home to School Transport.

The local authority currently spends £25 million on ensuring children across the county can attend school.  However, maintaining expenditure at this level, in the current financial climate, is unsustainable and efficiency savings must be made.  The authority has a number of statutory responsibilities around the provision of Home to School transport which will not change, however a number of the discretionary elements of the existing policy are under review.

Essex County Councillor Ray Gooding, Cabinet Member for Education said: "It is important the public realise that we want to make the Home to School Transport policy fair, simple and consistent.  At the moment while the policy is very generous, there are inconsistencies with how it is applied across the county which means families aren't treated equally.  While there is a need to realise financial savings the priority is to have a system that is fair and equitable to all."

The consultation questions will be available from Monday 16th September through following the link below

SURVEY LINK

The full consultation document with information regarding the proposals and the policies that may be affected can be found here

A copy of the our current home to school transport can be found here

FAQs have also been formulated and can be found here

Other comments and submissions to be considered under this consultation can be sent to [email protected]

Please note that comments will not be responded to individually but will be used in the review process to inform our future policy following the consultation