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Meeting the Extra Costs of Free Travel for Eligible Pupils

Wednesday 19 April 2023

Steer Davies Gleave28-32 Upper Ground

London, SE1 9PD+44 (0)20 7919 8500

www.steerdaviesgleave.com

Garrett EmmersonDirector: Steer Davies Gleave

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Entitlement to School Transport – an historical perspective

Ι Entitlement to school transport was introduced in the Education and Inspections act 1944. Under this act the following groups were entitled to free transport:

■ Children under 8 years old travelling more than 2 miles to their nearest school

■ Children of 8 -16 travelling more than 3 miles to their nearest school

Ι Since then:■ Cars ownership has rocketed■ People expect to walk less■ There is a greater fear of crime■ There has been an increasing emphasis on parental right to choose a

school Although in theory parents can choose any school, in practice choice is restricted

for low income families due to lack of transport arrangements. Only 10% of children from low income families travel more than 3 miles to school, compared with 18% of other children.

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Education and Inspections Act 2006

Ι Since September 2007 the right to free school transport has been extended to pupils who:■ are aged 8 to 11 ■ are from low income families ■ go to their nearest suitable school, and live more than two miles away

Ι From September this year, secondary school aged pupils will be entitled to free school transport if they are from a low income family, and they go to:■ any one of their 3 nearest suitable schools, and the schools are between 2 and 6

miles away from their home address

Ι or:■ the nearest school preferred by their parents on the grounds of religion or

belief, and the school is between 2 and 15 miles away from their home address

Ι The Act also introduces new curriculum entitlements for 14-19 year olds, which are likely to require pupils to travel between institutions. Local authorities will need to consider how to arrange this.

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What scale of change should we expect?

Ι Nationally DCSF estimates that an additional 15% of children will be entitled under the new distance criteria.

Ι Local uptake will depend on:■ Level of disadvantage■ How well the opportunity is publicised■ The nature of local admissions policies – where schools are over-

subscribed, catchment and other admission criteria may still over-rule choice

■ Whether an area is rural or urban – in some rural areas there will only be 1 school within the max distance criteria, in some urban areas there may be several schools within three miles

■ In any case uptake is likely to be gradualΙ 14-19 trends difficult to predict, depend very much on nature

of the authority and school clusters.

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Where will the money come from?

Ι DCSF funding has been allocated to reach annual figures below by 2011/12:

■ £5m for pathfinders delivery■ £5m for primary duty■ £25.5m for secondary duty■ £7.5m for religion or belief duty

Ι 14-19 transport is being funded by schools and through the post-16 partnerships in some areas

Ι But this will not be enough

Ι There is no miracle source of funding

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Operations – opportunities for savings

Ι Reviews■ Annual reviews keep costs in check but will only lead to a few savings if any.■ Blank sheet reviews lead to bigger savings. Involves consultation with schools and

operators, re-tendering. Would normally achieve 15-20% savings at least■ In Gloucestershire last year each contract reviewed resulted in an average saving of

22% (or £12k).

Ι Quotations vs full tender■ As a rule the split between quotations and full tenders for school travel routes should

be 10%:90% but often there is a greater reliance on short term quotes.■ Moving to full tender almost invariably results in a cost saving.

Ι Season tickets■ Use of season tickets for school travel varies massively. We have found authorities

spending as little as £500k a year and as much as £8m.■ In general season tickets are cheaper and help to support the local bus network.■ May need more integrated planning.■ Can also register school buses as public routes, to enhance PT in rural areas.

Ι Integration with adults servicesΙ In house provision

■ Where lack of competition impacts on cost in house provision may be useful.

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School travel policy – opportunities for savings

Ι Policy■ Denominational transport

Wiltshire and Suffolk charge, Lincs only provide it if there are spare seats on existing buses

■ School opening times Research has shown that staggered start and finish times can cut the

cost of contracts by more than 30% by reducing the vehicle demand, slightly reducing hours and other variable costs. Schools can be allocated some of the savings to incentivise cooperation.

■ Promote walking and cycling, particularly for 14-19 Is by far the quickest, most flexible and efficient transport in urban

areas Consider mileage payments Also be consistent with the sustainable school travel strategy

■ Independent travel training Will require initial investment Long term savings (future savings for Adults Services too)

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Performance management – opportunities for savings

Ι Transport officers■ Vital to ensure that reviews are the priority■ May be necessary to free up time (e.g. ensure full use of

customer contact centre)■ Consider annualised hours to manage summer workload

Ι Ensure that communication between entitlement decision-makers (often in CYPD) and transport officers is efficient

■ Poor communication and lack of understanding of mutual pressures can result in inefficiencies such as late processing of transport requests. This in turn can lead to reliance on last minute quotes rather than full tenders.

Ι Performance management incentivisationΙ More Radical ‘Whole Service’ Solutions?

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Summary

Ι Some additional funding will be available but is unlikely to cover all costs

Ι Efficiency savings will be necessary

Ι Biggest savings likely to come from blank sheet reviews, particularly if reviews used as opportunity to increase use of season tickets and to promote sustainable travel.

Ι Policy should be adapted to promote walking and cycling as sustainable and cheaper modes and could consider charging for optional policies (e.g. denominational)

Ι Performance management improvements and more radical ‘whole service’ solutions

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Thank you