Issue details

Proposed decision –

 

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to agree to alter the school transport assessment process by removing the need for mainstream pupils to apply for free school transport, and instead, proactively contacting parents to inform them that their child’s eligibility status. This will allow Fair Access to allocate a significantly larger proportion of staff capacity to the more complex SEN assessment work. The proposed changes will have no impact on transport eligibility criteria, so will have no material impact on KCC’s Transport Policy.

 

1.     Introduction

 

1.1   The Transport Eligibility Team situated within Fair Access has a duty to assess SEN and mainstream pupil applications for entitlement for free school transport, based on KCC’s transport eligibility criteria. The team process applications throughout the year, but receives its most significant workload between March and September in the lead up to the new academic year.

 

1.2   Following the well-publicised issues surrounding the SEN transport retendering exercise in February 2022, parental faith the KCC’s SEN transport offer has been significantly damaged. Parents and Members have indicated an expectation that preparations for September 2022 must proceed without major issue to both alleviate current concerns and evidence that lessons have been learnt and processes have been strengthened.

 

1.3   The transport sector is experiencing a national crisis as the combined effects for COVID 19, volatility in the fuel prices and driver availability take hold. As such, KCC faces one of its most challenging years in successfully fulfilling its statutory duty to provide free school transport to all entitled scholars. Initiatives are underway to increase market capacity and so are not included in the scope of this paper.

 

1.4   To add to these challenges, two of Transport Eligibility’s most experienced Transport Assistants have secured alternative employment, leaving the team’s 5 FTE structure depleted. While recruitment exercises are nearing completion, the loss of experience within the team will have a detrimental impact to its potential output while training is completed.

 

1.5   Finally, the ongoing increase in EHCP numbers continue to create significant pressures within the team in its current form.

 

2.   Proposal

 

2.1   Fair Access has made considerable improvements in recent years to the processes used to identify pupils that are eligible for free school transport. As a result of these improvements, manual assessment of mainstream cases are no longer required and KCC’s system, making use of local GIS data, automatically identifies a child’s nearest school and confirms to Officers whether it is over the required statutory distance. While SEN transport assessment has benefited from these improvements, it will never be possible to fully automate these processes as Officer assessment will always be required to accommodate each child’s individual need.

 

2.2   Alongside these improvements, Members have raised concerns with Fair Access about the perceived lack of transparency in the transport entitlement process at the point of application for school places. While parents can contact Transport Eligibility for support in this area, this still creates a barrier that Members (particularly those in the Transport Regulation Committee) have requested be improved.

 

2.3   As a result, Fair Access has been working with software providers to make the automated assessment mechanisms parent facing, so that they gain an indication of their child’s free school transport entitlement at the point of application for a school place. These changes will require significant adaptation of systems, so KCC is reliant on investment by software suppliers to complete this work. While this development is progressing, it has been delayed significantly as a result of the impact of COVID, and so is not expected to be available for at least another 18-24 months.

 

2.4   While these delays are frustrating, the available processes and data do allow for KCC to implement a mid-point solution by removing the need for mainstream pupils to apply for free school transport, but rather, proactively contact parents to inform them that their child is eligible. This would remove the vast majority of work associated with the mainstream process during the team’s busiest period, which would allow significantly more capacity to be allocated to the completion of SEN applications.

 

2.5   Under normal circumstances, this type of change would be communicated to parents before the application window for free school transport had opened, at the point of application for free school places, however, with careful communication (including involvement with Kent PACT to ensure SEN parents understand how these changes benefit their child’s application), there is no barrier to make this change as a response to the increased pressure in SEN entitlement assessment. It does mean, however, that a decision must be made quickly, and parents informed of the change in application process as close to the end of May as possible. 

 

2.6   The proposal is also dependent on the necessary changes being made to Public Transport’s Routewise transport database and Cantium provided application processes to allow data from eligible and ineligible pupils to be imported without the need for Transport Eligibility staff to manually input via normal methods. Discussions are underway to ensure this import process can be implemented in time, but will potentially rely on Public Transport liaising with their software supplier and Cantium providing suitable resources.

 

3.     Current Process

•              Mainstream parents are informed of the child’s offered Secondary school on 1 March and parents of SEN pupils are informed from mid-February (although offers continue to be made to date).

•       All parents are advised of the need to apply for transport, via KCC’s online application portal.

•       Parents advised that applications for the forthcoming academic year will not be processed until the start of May to allow current year applications to be prioritised, however, applications are processed in date order once work begins.

 

Where a child is assessed as eligible:

•       Parent emailed application outcome.

•       Pupil details manually entered into Routewise database to allow Public Transport to begin making arrangements to place the child in a suitable vehicle.

•       Public Transport contact the parent with details of provided transport

 

Where a child is assessed as ineligible:

•       Parent emailed application outcome and advised of their right for first stage of appeals process

•       If parent makes use of right of appeal a Senior Officer manually reviews the case to ensure assessment has been completed correctly, taking into account any new information provided by the applicant.

•       If child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent contacted with details of the decision and advised of their right for second stage of appeals process

•       If parent makes use of second right of appeal, Democratic Services arranges a panel of Transport Regulation Committee Appeals Panel members to review the case. Transport Eligibility Officer present why it has not been possible to offer transport

•       If the child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent advised of their right to refer the case to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsmen.

 

4.     Proposed process

 

4.1   The proposed changes will be limited to the Secondary Transfer mainstream pupils only, as this accounts for the majority of mainstream assessment in this period. Inclusion of Primary aged pupils is likely to increase parental interest in school transport at an earlier age, which is not currently the norm.

 

4.2   Initial parental contact will make clear that the assessment is based on the school the child was given on National Offer Day. Due to limitations in availability of data, it will not be possible automatically assess a child against low-income criteria, or whether the route is hazardous, so parents will be given an opportunity to submit an application and evidence for further consideration where necessary.

 

4.3   Where a parent is not eligible for free school transport and does not intend to apply under one of the additional categories above, they will be advised that they retain access to both stages of the appeals process to ensure that KCC continues to fulfil its legal duties in this area.

 

4.4   It will be necessary for mainstream parents to be advised of the changes in assessment process this year, but equally for SEN families to be advised that these changes are being made in an effort to ensure their applications can be prioritised and processed more quickly. Without this assurance, it could be misconstrued that KCC is simply improving mainstream applications processes without making similar adjustments for SEN children. Planned improvements to the assessment process will likely allow automation of SEN transport eligibility in the future but will require significant involvement from SEN colleagues to ensure the process is sustainable.

 

4.5   The revised process would work as follows:

 

Mainstream Secondary families contacted and advised of their child’s free school transport entitlement status.

 

Where a child is assessed as eligible:

•       Parents asked to confirm that transport is required and provided an opportunity to submit additional transport related data items including a photo of their child.

•       Pupil data imported into Routewise in batches

•       Public Transport contact the parent with details of provided transport

 

Where a child is assessed as ineligible and parent cannot apply under low income or hazardous route criteria:

•       Pupil data imported into Routewise in batches

•       Parent given an opportunity to submit a Stage one appeal for Officer review and include any additional information about low income status or hazardous route. Senior Officer reviews the case to ensure assessment has been competed correctly.

•       If child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent contacted with details of the decision and advised of their right for second stage of appeals process

•       If parent makes use of second right of appeal, Democratic Services arranges a panel of Transport Regulation Committee Appeals Panel members to review the case. Transport Eligibility Officer present why it has not been possible to offer transport

•       If the child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent advised of their right to refer the case to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsmen.

4.     Proposed process

 

4.1   The proposed changes will be limited to the Secondary Transfer mainstream pupils only, as this accounts for the majority of mainstream assessment in this period. Inclusion of Primary aged pupils is likely to increase parental interest in school transport at an earlier age, which is not currently the norm.

 

4.2   Initial parental contact will make clear that the assessment is based on the school the child was given on National Offer Day. Due to limitations in availability of data, it will not be possible automatically assess a child against low-income criteria, or whether the route is hazardous, so parents will be given an opportunity to submit an application and evidence for further consideration where necessary.

 

4.3   Where a parent is not eligible for free school transport and does not intend to apply under one of the additional categories above, they will be advised that they retain access to both stages of the appeals process to ensure that KCC continues to fulfil its legal duties in this area.

 

4.4   It will be necessary for mainstream parents to be advised of the changes in assessment process this year, but equally for SEN families to be advised that these changes are being made in an effort to ensure their applications can be prioritised and processed more quickly. Without this assurance, it could be misconstrued that KCC is simply improving mainstream applications processes without making similar adjustments for SEN children. Planned improvements to the assessment process will likely allow automation of SEN transport eligibility in the future but will require significant involvement from SEN colleagues to ensure the process is sustainable.

 

4.5   The revised process would work as follows:

 

Mainstream Secondary families contacted and advised of their child’s free school transport entitlement status.

 

Where a child is assessed as eligible:

•       Parents asked to confirm that transport is required and provided an opportunity to submit additional transport related data items including a photo of their child.

•       Pupil data imported into Routewise in batches

•       Public Transport contact the parent with details of provided transport

 

Where a child is assessed as ineligible and parent cannot apply under low income or hazardous route criteria:

•       Pupil data imported into Routewise in batches

•       Parent given an opportunity to submit a Stage one appeal for Officer review and include any additional information about low income status or hazardous route. Senior Officer reviews the case to ensure assessment has been competed correctly.

•       If child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent contacted with details of the decision and advised of their right for second stage of appeals process

•       If parent makes use of second right of appeal, Democratic Services arranges a panel of Transport Regulation Committee Appeals Panel members to review the case. Transport Eligibility Officer present why it has not been possible to offer transport

•       If the child can now be assessed as eligible, see process above. If a child remains ineligible, parent advised of their right to refer the case to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsmen.

 

5.     Financial Implications

 

5.1   As the main deciding factor for transport entitlement in Secondary Transfer is a parent’s expression of school preferences, it is difficult to predict with certainty what financial impact will result in an automatic confirmation of a child’s transport eligibility. The main risk associated with automatic confirmation is the potential for parents who would otherwise fail to submit a transport application being made aware that a free school transport option is available. This could inflate the number of eligible pupils, with an equivalent increase in mainstream transport budgets.

 

5.2   The following table shows the total number of pupils who are eligible for free school transport compared to the applications received and their outcomes. Data is limited to applications that are submitted up to the end of July in the preceding academic year, so are likely to slightly under-represent the total number of pupils who ultimately claim transport they are entitled to:

 

 

Academic Year	Eligible Pupils identified through automation	Assessed Eligible following application	Assessed Ineligible following application	Total Applications
2021-22	1518	820 (54%)	682	1502
2020-21	1628	744 (45%)	531	1275
2019-20	1454	N/A	N/A	N/A
2018-19	1610	1116 (69%)	859	1975

 

 

5.3   COVID has had an unprecedented impact on the transport sector and governmental advice during the application window for 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years was to minimise the use of public transport as much as possible. These years’ data are therefore not indicative of normal application patterns and so should not be used. Unfortunately, due to limitations in availability of data, it is not possible to report on 2019-20. The last viable year’s data suggests that roughly 70% of eligible pupils claim the transport they are entitled to.

 

5.4   This academic year, 1417 have been identified as being entitled to free school transport within the Secondary Transfer cohort, which leaves a potential for around additional 425 pupils to claim free school transport if all families accept the offer. The current average annual cost for transport for eligible pupils is £700, resulting in a potential increase of £297k although this total figure is unlikely to be realised as a number of parents will continue to prefer to make their own arrangements to transport their child to school. Similarly, parental application rates could be higher this year as they are outside of KCC’s direct control, and KCC has a legal duty to provide school transport to all identified entitled scholars.

 

5.5   The total spend on Mainstream under 16 travel has remained reasonably static since 2017-18, a reflection of the numbers travelling. The mainstream school transport budget is reported alongside the SEN school transport budget in the monitoring reports. For 2022-23 the Mainstream School Budget is £6,551m (this includes an allowance for inflation of £0.228m).

 

Financial Year	Total Spend £’000s	Snapshot count January
2017-18	£6,112	5,912
2018-19	£6,173	5,732
2019-20	£6,001	5,437
2020-21	£4,760 (COVID)	5,328
2021-22	£6,079	5,459
2022-23	£6,551 (BUDGET)	5,650

 

5.6   The MTFP did not include any allowance for potential higher number of applications resulting from changes in process and potentially increased awareness. Therefore, this is a funding risk and will need to be considered equivalent to a service investment or planned overspend. However, it should be noted that the wider planned procedural improvements to the School Admissions application process, outlined in Section 2.3, which will highlight pupil entitlement to free school transport much earlier in the process would have had the same effect and therefore this proposal would bring forward the financial impact of these changes. 

 

Staffing Impact

5.7   If significant procedural changes are not made to the Transport Eligibility Team to accommodate the pressures detailed above, it would be necessary to increase overall staffing capacity instead. The team has made significant efficiencies to the processes over the years that has meant while KCC has seen a 100% increase in the number of pupils with an EHCP, the Transport Eligibility Team has seen no increase in staffing capacity.

 

5.8   It is estimated the procedural changes included within this proposal would free up an equivalent of 2 FTE KR5 Transport Assistants (c £54k).  However, it is also expected to avoid further increases in officers required to deal with higher applications that were expected from procedural improvements to the School Admissions application process outlined in Section 2.3.

 

5.9   It is proposed these posts are diverted to support the increasing number of SEN applications.

 

5.10 An alternative approach would be to retain the current process for mainstream applications and instead recruit further staff to the transport eligibility team to meet the increasing demand from SEN. However, it should be noted that an increase in staff at this late stage is unlikely to provide sufficient additional capacity before September because of recruitment timescales and fail to mitigate against the loss of expertise in the current group. Reduction of mainstream assessment duties will allow the remaining experienced staff to prioritise SEN applications, while newer staff members can support with more administrative functions while their skillset is developed.

 

5.11 One further unspecified financial risk of inaction are the combined costs of another public failure in relation to SEN transport, with the potential for further internal audit exercises or judicial review.

 

6.     Legal Implications

 

6.1   As these changes are as a result of the recent unexpected issues within SEN transport, they did not form a part of KCC’s published guidance to parents this year. While current advice indicates that mainstream parents should submit an application for consideration for free school transport, proposed changes would still fulfil KCC’s duties in allowing an assessment for free school transport to take place, and to provide parents with access to suitable appeals processes. Parents will retain the right to submit an application if they wish, so this adjustment could be considered as an additional supportive step, rather than a major deviation from existing processes.

 

6.2   Proposed changes will have no impact on transport eligibility criteria, so will have no material impact on KCC’s Transport Policy.

 

6.3   In the event that processes and staffing levels remain unchanged, there remains increased risk that KCC will fail in its duty to identify pupils eligible for free school transport within reasonable timescales, with the resultant further reputational damage and erosion of parental faith when school transport is not available in September.

 

7.     Governance

 

7.1   The level of public interest in School Transport, combined with the need to consider potential financial implications involved, indicate that this proposal merits a formal Executive Decision to confirm official approval.

7.2   As the potential impact on the budget is less than £1m and the proposal would not have a significant impact on a significant number of people living in multiple Divisions, it is viable to progress this matter as a non-Key but still significant Cabinet Member Decision.  These are decisions which do not meet the Key Decision criteria but are still deemed suitable for Cabinet Member approval for a variety of reasons (see s12.11 & 12.12 of the Constitution).

 

7.3   The total decision timeframe, providing no valid call-in is received, is 11 clear working days between initial FED & PROD publication and implementation.  As the decision may be taken prior to the next relevant Cabinet Committee, a report would need to be submitted to the next meeting explaining the reasons for the decision being taken without prior Committee consideration.

 

7.4   The above route would allow for the formal evidencing of appropriate Executive Member oversight, accountability and political decision-making without making use of legal urgency procedures.

 

8.     Conclusions

 

8.1   The proposed adaptation to this year’s transport application process offers an opportunity to significantly increase the department’s capacity to process SEN transport applications in a timely fashion. Given the potential financial implications of this change, however, it is necessary for the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and Director of Education to be in agreement that it is a proportionate and necessary change.