Apologies were received from Councillor S Davenport, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Highways. 

None were declared.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 27 February 2019 will be presented at the 20 March 2019 meeting for confirmation. 

It was noted that the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2019 would be presented to the  Cabinet meeting on 20 March 2019.

To receive any questions or petitions from members of the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14. Deadline for notification for this meeting is no later than 24 hours prior to the start of the meeting.

There were no public questions.

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given due notice, the deadline for notification for this meeting is 5.00pm on Friday 1 March 2019

There were no Member questions.

To consider any scrutiny issues from Council or any of the Scrutiny Committees

There were no scrutiny items.

Lead Member – Nick Bardsley – Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People

Report of Director of Children’s Services  

Contact:  Karen Bradshaw, tel 01743 254201

            RESOLVED:

            That Cabinet approve a consultation on the following proposed policy changes:

• To increase the lower rate contribution to 50% of the cost of the mainstream scheme from £142.50 to £437.50, maintaining the upper limit of the scheme at its current £875 pa. 

• To expand the contributions scheme to include SEND post 16 students, in line with the mainstream scheme.

• To withdraw the Council’s financial support for Nursery SEND pupil transport.

            That Cabinet agree to receive a further report following the consultation process.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People presented a report of the Director of Children’s Services.  This requested permission to consult on changes to the Council’s discretionary support for school and college transport. 

In presenting the report he accepted that the proposals would be contentious and would merit very careful consideration at the conclusion of the consultation period.  He emphasised that the proposals would not affect existing users of services but would be applied to new applicants from 1 September 2019.  He also reported that recommendations had already been changed significantly following the production of the Equality and Social Inclusion Impact Assessment (ESIIA), noting the potential impact.  An updated ESIIA reflecting the new proposals was attached to the report. 

Concern was expressed by a Member of the Council that there would be a disproportionate impact on rural students. Attention was also drawn to lack of public transport in parts of the county.  The Leader said that the proposals would impact on families living in both rural and urban areas and encouraged Members to respond to the consultation in writing.

The Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People reiterated that the consultation was genuine,  the results of which could lead to changes in the proposals, as had been the case in other recent consultations on changes to services for children and young people. 

In response to a query regarding the amount of savings that proposals might make, the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People explained that the figure identified of £717k was not made up of savings from these changes alone but included a number of actions already underway to rationalise and achieve efficiencies. 

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approve a consultation on the following proposed policy changes:

• To increase the lower rate contribution to 50% of the cost of the mainstream scheme from £142.50 to £437.50, maintaining the upper limit of the scheme at its current £875 pa. 

• To expand the contributions scheme to include SEND post 16 students, in line with the mainstream scheme.

• To withdraw the Council’s financial support for Nursery SEND pupil transport.

That Cabinet agree to receive a further report following the consultation process.