Plans to change school transport in Rutland could impact low income and SEN families
Rutland County Council are holding a public consultation on the policies until 14th February
Low income and special educational need families in Rutland could be impacted by plans to change school transport in Rutland.
Rutland County Council are holding a public consultation on its travel to school and post 16 transport policies between 6th January and 14th February 2025.
Feedback is being invited from parents, carers, schools, colleges and other key stakeholders.
The Council is looking to combine separate policies that cover travel to school and post 16 transport into one single travel assistance policy.
Working towards independence
Councillor Christine Wise, Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment and Communities, said:
“Our review of Rutland’s existing transport policies has identified key issues that need closer attention."
"We have too many policies and they’re not clear enough about the assistance that families are eligible to receive."
"For example, we could have a child with no special education needs at school but could have a housebound parent who needs someone to walk them to school. They would need something different from other children."
"So we want to have one policy that applies to all of our young people."
"One of the things we want to try and do through the policy is develop an idea of working towards independence."
"The advantage of walking that child to school is they learn how to walk to school and how to cross the road safely."
"Then they can gradually progress to doing that on their own."
We have too many policies and they’re not clear enough
Rutland currently has three separate policies covering travel to school, SEND and post 16 travel, as well as a fourth that covers travel for young people aged 19 to 25 with SEND.
These policies have been in place since 2017 and are used to guide decisions taken with families as to the kind of transport that can be provided for children and young people.