Southampton City Council is inviting everyone with an interest in the School Travel Service to comment on the draft policy for 2024/25

Southampton City Council has published draft changes to its School Travel Service (previously Home to School Transport) Policy for the 2024-25 academic year, as part of a regular review

16/10/2023

The back of a school bus with some trees beside it. A children alert sign is visible in the bus window. Logo: Southampton City Council. Text: southampton.gov.uk/schooltravel

The policy outlines how Southampton City Council will deliver its statutory responsibilities to provide travel assistance for eligible children under the Education Acts 1996 and 2011, and the Equality Act 2010. It also details local policy for the operation of the School Travel Service in Southampton.

Proposed changes to the policy document include:

Setting out a clear order and hierarchy in which travel options will be considered by the council to ensure the most sustainable, cost-effective, suitable method
Updating the appeals process to bring it in line with government guidance
Requiring parents/carers who wish to apply for school travel support to list their nearest school in their school application forms
A proposed definition of a home address and how this would be defined in the case of dual custody arrangement
Changes to the terminology used within the policy to ensure it is consistent and in line with the service’s rebrand from ‘Home to School Transport’ to ‘School Travel Service’

The draft School Travel Service Policy does not include any changes to the criteria for entitlement for travel support, which are set out by law.

Councillor Alexander Winning, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, said:

"We would like to thank the Parent Carer Forum for working with us to review the School Travel Service Policy. The changes that have been proposed will make the policy clearer for parent carers of eligible children and help them understand the travel support options available to ensure their child can get to and from school each day."

Anyone wishing to review and comment on the revised policy is invited to do so before 27 November by visiting Draft School Travel Service and Post-16 Travel Service Policy Consultation. Paper copies of the questionnaire can be requested to be printed at any Southampton library or you can print a copy by downloading the paper version from our website.