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1717178

registered interest
date	10/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much was spent by each local authority on home to school transport for children with (a) special educational needs and (b) an education, health and care plan in each of the last 10 years.
tabling member constituency	Redditch
tabling member printed	Rachel Maclean
uin	25683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2024 answer text <p>Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 requires local authorities to submit information about their education expenditure to the department. They must include information about their expenditure on home-to-school travel for children with special educational needs (SEN), but they are not required to specify whether each child has an Education Health and Care plan.</p><p>The information collected from local authorities is published on GOV.UK and can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure</a>. Local authority gross expenditure on SEN transport covering the 2012/13 to 2022/23 financial years can be viewed using the create a table function. This is set out in the attached table.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 20/05/2024 12:01:01 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds attachment 1 file name 25683_attachment_SEN_transport_expenditure.xlsx title 25683_attachment_SEN_transport_expenditure
tabling member	4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean

1663215

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's statutory guidance for local authorities on Travel to school for children of compulsory school age, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the eligibility criteria for a child over eight years old to access free travel to their nearest suitable school from 3 to 1.5 miles from their home.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
uin	201069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Department’s school travel policy aims to make sure no pupil is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free home to school travel for pupils of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and live more than the statutory walking distance from it. The statutory walking distance is two miles for pupils aged under eight and three miles for those aged eight or over.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not have any plans to amend the statutory walking distance, but pupils will also be eligible for free travel if they live within the statutory walking distance and would not be able to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. In addition, there are extended rights to free home to school travel for pupils who are eligible for free school meals or who live with a parent that claims the maximum amount of working tax credit. Pupils aged eight or over, but under eleven, may have free travel to their nearest school if it is more than two miles from their home. Pupils aged eleven to sixteen may have free travel to one of their three nearest schools, provided it is between two and six miles from their home, or to a school that their parents have chosen on the grounds of their religion or belief that is between two and fifteen miles from their home.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are responsible for assessing route safety to determine whether a pupil is eligible for free home to school travel. Local knowledge is likely to be important and the Department does not have a role in these decisions. The Department’s guidance explains that Local Authorities should consider a range of risks such as canals, rivers, ditches, speed of traffic and fields of vision for the pedestrian and motorist.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 201070 question first answered 23/10/2023 16:16:57 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1663216

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's statutory guidance for local authorities on Travel to school for children of compulsory school age, what criteria her Department uses to determine whether a walking route is safe for the purposes of access to free school travel.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
uin	201070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Department’s school travel policy aims to make sure no pupil is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free home to school travel for pupils of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and live more than the statutory walking distance from it. The statutory walking distance is two miles for pupils aged under eight and three miles for those aged eight or over.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not have any plans to amend the statutory walking distance, but pupils will also be eligible for free travel if they live within the statutory walking distance and would not be able to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. In addition, there are extended rights to free home to school travel for pupils who are eligible for free school meals or who live with a parent that claims the maximum amount of working tax credit. Pupils aged eight or over, but under eleven, may have free travel to their nearest school if it is more than two miles from their home. Pupils aged eleven to sixteen may have free travel to one of their three nearest schools, provided it is between two and six miles from their home, or to a school that their parents have chosen on the grounds of their religion or belief that is between two and fifteen miles from their home.</p><p> </p><p>Local Authorities are responsible for assessing route safety to determine whether a pupil is eligible for free home to school travel. Local knowledge is likely to be important and the Department does not have a role in these decisions. The Department’s guidance explains that Local Authorities should consider a range of risks such as canals, rivers, ditches, speed of traffic and fields of vision for the pedestrian and motorist.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 201069 question first answered 23/10/2023 16:16:57 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1654000

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost to schools transport to and from temporary school buildings.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	194835
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2023 answer text <p>The safety of pupils and staff is vital. It is the responsibility of those who run schools, including Academy Trusts, Local Authorities and Voluntary Aided School Bodies, to manage the maintenance of their schools and alert the Department if there is a concern with a building. Local Authorities and Academy Trusts do not need to report to the Department if they are operating from temporary buildings, but the Department provides support on a case by case basis as necessary. This includes when schools have closed part or all of the site for a period of time. In most cases this is for a number of days as opposed to a longer closure. The number of schools this has applied to is changing regularly with ongoing activity to mitigate the effect, including minimising any short term influence on education. Where the Department is aware of the use of temporary buildings it works with responsible bodies to understand the effect of this, including costs.</p><p> </p><p>The Department uses temporary buildings on school sites for short periods of time in centrally delivered school building programmes, and this is planned carefully to ensure disruption to education is minimised.</p><p> </p><p>The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies and has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational. This includes £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 194836 question first answered 26/07/2023 15:37:15 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1641799

registered interest
date	05/06/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the help with home to school transport programme.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	187721
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2023 answer text <p>The Department’s school transport policy aims to ensure that no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free travel to school for children aged 5 to 16 who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to the distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free travel for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice.</p><p>The Department works closely with Local Authorities to gain an understanding of the opportunities and challenges they face which, for example, supported decision-making on the measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the Department also consulted on its statutory guidance for Local Authorities which helped highlight areas of challenge that we have worked to address. The revised guidance will be published shortly.</p><p>Whilst no formal assessment of the effectiveness of the policy has been conducted, the Department has a good understanding of how it is operating and engages regularly so if challenges arise, work can be done to address them.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 13/06/2023 14:22:18 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1639202

registered interest
date	22/05/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing free transport to and from school for all children.
tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
tabling member printed	Cat Smith
uin	186129
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/05/2023 answer text <p>The Government understands that many people are worried about the impact of rising prices, with many households struggling to make their incomes stretch to cover the basics. The Government cannot insulate people from rising costs completely, but it is offering support to help people with costs such as childcare, bills and transport. The Government’s dedicated website provides more information about support with the cost of living. The information is available here: <a href="https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/" target="_blank">https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p>The Department’s school transport policy aims to ensure that no child of compulsory school age is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free travel to school for children aged 5 to 16 who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to the distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free travel for low income families aimed at helping them to exercise school choice. There are no plans to extend free home to school travel to all children.</p><p>Local Authorities spent more than £1.6 billion on home to school travel in the 2021/22 financial year. The majority of central Government funding for home to school travel is made available to Local Authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS), which is administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The Department for Education provides grant funding to Local Authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights travel. This is just under £45.8 million in the 2023/24 financial year.</p><p>The Department has published statutory guidance on the ‘Cost of School Uniform’ to ensure that the cost of school uniform is reasonable and secures best value for money for all parents. The guidance is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms</a>. It is for the governing board of a school to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy and, if so, what that should be.</p><p>The guidance requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and sets a number of requirements to help ensure that. These requirements include assessing the cost implications of their uniform policy and engaging with parents and pupils on cost issues<em>.</em></p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 186128 question first answered 31/05/2023 12:13:29 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

1541472

registered interest
date	11/11/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were eligible for help with the cost of home to school transport in each local authority in each year since 2017.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	84874
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2022 answer text <p>The Department does not collect the information requested. The legal responsibility for providing free home to school transport sits with Local Authorities. Local Authorities will hold any data on the number of children receiving support in their areas.</p><p>In terms of eligibility criteria, Local Authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or because of special educational needs, disability, or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice, known as ‘extended rights’. Local Authorities also have a discretionary power to provide free or subsidised home to school transport for other children.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 84875 84876 question first answered 16/11/2022 14:51:15 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1541473

registered interest
date	11/11/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children qualified for help with the cost of home to school transport in each local authority in each year since 2017.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	84875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2022 answer text <p>The Department does not collect the information requested. The legal responsibility for providing free home to school transport sits with Local Authorities. Local Authorities will hold any data on the number of children receiving support in their areas.</p><p>In terms of eligibility criteria, Local Authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or because of special educational needs, disability, or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice, known as ‘extended rights’. Local Authorities also have a discretionary power to provide free or subsidised home to school transport for other children.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 84874 84876 question first answered 16/11/2022 14:51:15 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1541474

registered interest
date	11/11/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have received help with the cost of home to school transport in each local authority since 2017.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	84876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2022 answer text <p>The Department does not collect the information requested. The legal responsibility for providing free home to school transport sits with Local Authorities. Local Authorities will hold any data on the number of children receiving support in their areas.</p><p>In terms of eligibility criteria, Local Authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or because of special educational needs, disability, or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice, known as ‘extended rights’. Local Authorities also have a discretionary power to provide free or subsidised home to school transport for other children.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 84874 84875 question first answered 16/11/2022 14:51:15 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1504111

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Transport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on taking steps to support parents with the rising cost of school transport.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	45668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/09/2022 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Education has regular conversations with cabinet colleagues about important and topical matters including rising costs that may affect the education sector.</p><p>The Department’s home to school transport policy aims to ensure that no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities must provide free home to school transport for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of distance, special educational needs or disability, or an unsafe route. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice. Home to school travel and transport guidance is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stoke-on-Trent North answering member printed Jonathan Gullis question first answered 26/09/2022 15:26:42 answering member 4814 label Biography information for Jonathan Gullis
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy