Home to school transport

As a parent, you are responsible for ensuring your child attends school. In most cases, this also includes arranging travel to and from school. Local Authorities (LAs) must provide free transport for all children and young people who are eligible.

As well as the Council's statutory home to school transport arrangements, they also have a discretionary power to arrange travel to school for other children and young people.

How the home to school transport team work

The team aims to provide inclusive transport that meets your child’s needs.

They will work with you to explore all options, including:

• your child travelling on a bus with other children from their school
• your child travelling on a smaller shared vehicle
• getting a parental grant for mileage costs
• getting a personal travel budget so you can manage your own transport arrangements
• an individual taxi when no other option is appropriate

Free travel to school eligibility for your child

There are many reasons why your child might be eligible for free home to school transport.

These include:

• your child attends a specialist educational setting which is agreed as the closest suitable setting to meet your child’s needs
• it is not within the statutory walking distance of your child’s home address
• your child could not be expected to walk to school because of their SEND, even if they are accompanied by you

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or they attend a Special School or Resource Provision, this does not guarantee home to school travel or transport assistance. The decisions about transport entitlement are made in line with your child’s individual needs.

You have the legal right to make a preference for your child’s school - that does not mean there will be a right to free transport. If you choose a school that is further away than the one the Council have deemed suitable, you will need to make and fund your own travel arrangements.

Your child does not need to have an EHCP to have home to school travel written in their EHCP to be eligible.

Decisions about transport eligibility

Eligibility on the grounds of SEND or mobility are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The decision is made by your ECHP Co-ordinator at the time the school placement is agreed.

Transport is only provided to and from school/college, at the beginning and end of the day. There is no requirement for the Council to accommodate requests for transport around varying timetables and these requests cannot be accommodated.

How long it takes to make transport arrangements

The team aim to make transport arrangements as soon as possible. However, this can often take between 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the time of year and complexity of the transport arrangements.

In certain circumstances, the Council may be able to meet their statutory duty to make suitable transport arrangements using either a:

• parental grant
• personal travel budget

Contact

If you would like to speak to someone in the SEND Transport Team with regards to the eligibility process or with any queries, please contact:

Telephone: 0300 303 1591 (select option 2)
Email: send.transport@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk

Address:
Integrated Home to School Transport
Children’s Services
Westmorland and Furness Council
Parkhouse Building
Kingmoor Business Park
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA6 4SJ