Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occassion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 7 October 2019 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Clerk provided the Committee with an update on the recommendation made at the meeting on 16 September 2019 and the Committee noted that progress had been made to address the issues raised.

Resolved: That under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the whole item, including the decisions referred to at Agenda item 4 on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider an appeal lodged in connection with the provision of assistance for home to school transport.

(This item contains personal information regarding the appellant, which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

The Committee considered an appeal that had been lodged in connection with a decision taken by officers within the Children’s Services Directorate not to provide assistance with home-to-school transport.

Mrs L Rowbottom presented the case on behalf of the Authority.

The Appellant and spouse were in attendance at the meeting.

Also in attendance at the meeting were Ms Goodall, Head of Corporate Legal and Miss Burnett, Clerk to the Committee.

The Committee carefully considered all the information submitted by the appellant and the Authority both in writing and verbally at the meeting and took into consideration the appellants’ disability and the family circumstances.

The Committee acknowledged the appellant’s reasons for wanting assistance with home-to-school transport costs, but were mindful that the child was attending a school identified by the appellant as one of two preferred schools, which was located less than the two miles, required to qualify for assistance, from the family home.  It was also noted that in accordance with the Home to School Transport Policy the distance from the family home was not considered an unreasonable distance for a child to walk unaccompanied to school and had been measured using the shortest safe walking route.

The Committee gave careful regard to the appellant’s circumstances and after carefully considering all the evidence before it, the Appeals Committee was satisfied that the decision not to provide assistance with home to school transport costs was made in accordance with the Council’s Home to School and College Transport Policy.

Resolved:

To uphold the officer’s decision not to provide assistance with home to school transport costs on the grounds that the decision was made in accordance with the Council’s Home to School and College Transport Policy and did not consider that there were sufficient special circumstances or considerations to override the policy.

Background papers:  Exempt

To note the date of the next meeting as Monday 18 November 2019 at 10.00am.

Resolved:  To note the date of the next meeting as 18 November 2019.