Agenda item

The Sub-Committee will receive a report outlining the Special Educational Need Transport together with travel training and an update on the current tender process. (Report to follow)

The Sub-Committee received a report with an update on the SEND Transport provision within the borough.  The demand was still increasing as was the budget for this provision.  The service was exploring alternative ways to help deliver the SEND Transport provision, to children that needed it.  It was agreed that the policy was not being used robustly and different options were being discussed to encourage independent travel of high functioning children. 

The demand on the service for 2016/17 was 389 young people needing travel assistance with, 319 on buses and 70 in taxis.  The Passenger Travel Service operates 34 buses on a daily basis which was the same number as the previous year.  There was an overall decrease of 3% on the number of young people being transported compared to 2015/16.  However there had been an increase to the number of taxis being provided compared to September 2015, and a 31% increase in cost.  The increase in budget was due to the slight increase in demand for taxi’s additional escorts as well as an increase in the number of your people accessing provision out of borough.  The creation of new provision in Havering (Avelon Centre) and a change in the timetables for some young people at Havering College could help in reducing overall costs.

It was noted that the total budget for 2016/17 was £2,248,610 for Home to School Transport, this included Post 16.  It was forecast that there would be an overspend against the allocated budget of £303,976, equating to 13.5% over budget.  The bulk of the overspend was in the post 16 transport provision

Other areas that had seen an improvement were the cluster points where young people were collected from.  It was noted that there were 12 pick-up points across the borough with 78 young people using them, 51 of which were under 16 years old.  This had reduced journey times and demonstrated a more proactive approach to alternative options.  The feedback from parents had been positive and had acknowledged the change, however, there were some that had concerns and were unable to commit to the change.

The service agreed that there could not be a “one size fits all” provision as every young person was different, and some had complex needs that needed one to one support.  Engagement with TfL was being developed to acquire Oyster cards that could make a difference to independent travel.

The Sub-Committee noted that a contract for travel training had been awarded to DABD for training across Havering, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge.  This would promote more independent travel for young people.  Officers informed the Sub-Committee that there had been 98 young people identified as able to do travel training, of which 58 had agreed to work with DABD.

Officers stated that meetings had taken place with the three Heads of the Special Schools, and the Deputy Principal of the College regarding the implementation of the transport policy.  They were broadly supportive and had actively been identifying students that they believed could both travel independently and would benefit from this approach.  They had also supported the move to an on-line application form and had supported families to complete and return the form within the stated deadlines. 

The special school representative suggested families did not fully support the online system, and felt that there had been no choice but to complete the form, the majority of families at Ravensbourne were not computer literate.

A member tabled details of the arrival times of the school bus at Corbets Tey School.  This showed that the bus was consistently late arriving at the school which disrupted the first hour of the day.  It was noted that young people needed assistance to alight from the bus and time was needed to settle into school, this could take up to an hour, which was exacerbated if the young person was on the transport in excess of an hour.

It was agreed that officers would look into this issue and feedback the findings to the Sub-Committee prior to the next meeting.  It was also suggested that Officers review arrival times at the other special schools in the borough.

The Sub-Committee suggested that young people were encouraged to celebrate their successes once they become independent travellers as this was also welcomed by the families and the young person.  Other areas to be discussed would be the success rates and trends of secondary pupils at pick up points, as well as peer work in independent travel as the encouragement of others may increase the likelihood of others becoming independent.

The Sub-Committee noted the report.