Agenda item

Report ED15052

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report outlining work undertaken to develop alternative options for the delivery of a special educational needs transport service to eligible children and young people across the Borough.

At the meeting of Education PDS Committee on 30^th September 2015, Members had considered a report outlining the results of a review of the Special Educational Needs Transport Policy, which had been undertaken to ensure that service provision continued to be fit for purpose following a range of reforms recently made to education and special education and the introduction of Education, Health and Care Plans through the Children and Families Act 2014.  A wide menu of transport assistance service offers had been identified as part of the review which aimed to support the individual assessed needs of children and young people, whilst meeting the Local Authority’s statutory duties to provide suitable travel arrangements for eligible children and young people resident in Bromley to access their education or special education provision. 

In discussion of the draft Special Educational Needs Transport Policy, the Education PDS Committee had requested that the potential to trial a muster point scheme be explored with a view to establishing if there was a robust business case for a muster point scheme to be provided across the Borough which would reduce the number of door-to-door collections for children and young people with special educational needs and provide them with a similar travel to school experience as their non-SEN peers.  Members had also requested that Officers explore how parents and carers could become more engaged in supporting their child’s transport needs through volunteering or car sharing schemes. 

Work to develop a pilot muster point scheme in which children and young people with special educational needs would be picked up and dropped off from muster points that were a maximum of two miles from their family home had now been undertaken.  It was proposed that a trial would start for certain identified areas and routes from the Summer Term 2015 for a period of one year.  It was expected that the trial would focus on one or two special schools and that the results of the trial would be used to inform the business case to establish whether a muster point scheme should be rolled out Borough-wide from the 2016/17 academic year.  The Local Authority would undertake risk assessments as part of the introduction of muster points in accordance with statutory requirements.  Parents and schools would be required to work in partnership to support children and young people with special educational needs to gain the necessary ‘pedestrian and independence skills’ to ensure their safety whilst using the muster point scheme.

In response to a question from a Member, the Assistant Director: Commissioning confirmed that two miles would be the maximum distance a muster point could be located from a child or young person’s family home, but that an individual risk assessment would be undertaken for each child or young person with special educational needs to ensure their particular needs were considered in accessing the scheme. 

A Co-opted Member underlined the need to consult with children and young people with special educational needs and their parents and carers on the proposed scheme.  The Assistant Director: Commissioning noted that if the Portfolio Holder was minded to recommend the pilot muster point scheme, consultation would be undertaken with a range of stakeholders including children and young people with special educational needs and their parents and carers and special schools to identify the appropriate schools prior to the start of any pilot scheme. 

In considering the proposed scheme, a Member emphasised the potential to introduce an app or other electronic notification which monitored transport movements and supported children and young people with special educational needs and their parents and carers to feel secure in using the service.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1)  Agree to pilot the implementation of a muster point scheme at one or two special schools in the Borough; and,

2)  Agree that a maximum of £16k expenditure from the Special Educational Needs Transport budget in support of the pilot scheme.