Frequently Asked Questions
What are the service changes in Home to School Transport service delivery?
Currently, the Council provides Home to School Transport to all pupils who live 1.5 miles away from their primary school and 2 miles from their secondary school. This is above the statutory legal requirement as set out by Welsh Government.
Under the new proposal, as approved by Cabinet on March 20th, the Council will maintain the current discretionary distance criteria of providing free transport for all primary schools, (English, Welsh, and Faith). This means that pupils who reside 1.5 miles or further from their primary school will continue to receive free Home to School Transport.
However, transport provision for all secondary schools and colleges (English, Welsh, and Faith) will change to be in line with the relevant statutory distance criteria as set out in the Learner Travel Measure. This means that free Home to School Transport will now be provided for students who reside 3 miles or further from their secondary school or college.
This service change will put the Council’s transport policy for secondary schools in line with Welsh Government’s statutory distance eligibility criteria and statutory walking distance policy, which 18 of the 22 Councils in Wales currently adopt.
When would the service change come into effect?
Changes to the Council’s Home to School Transport provision would be implemented from September 2025.
What is the Council’s statutory duty for providing Home to School Transport?
In line with Welsh Government policy, the Council must.
- Assess the travel needs of learners in its area.
- Provide free home to school transport for learners of compulsory school age attending primary school who live 2 miles or further from their nearest suitable school.
- Provide free home to school transport for learners of compulsory school age attending secondary school who live 3 miles or further from their nearest suitable school.
- Assess and meet the needs of children "looked after" in its area.
- Promote access to Welsh medium education.
- Promote sustainable modes of travel.
What was the consultation process for this service change?
At its meeting on 20th November 2023, Cabinet agreed to initiate a public consultation in respect of a proposed new Home to School Transport Policy.
Following this, a public consultation exercise was conducted with all key stakeholders such as pupils, parents, carers, transport providers and Elected Members.
The consultation originally ran from Monday 27th November 2023 until 5pm Monday 8th January 2024. However, the consultation was extended for a further three-week period, from Thursday 18th January until 5pm Thursday 8th February 2024. Therefore, it ran for a total period of nine weeks.
Consultees were able to respond to the consultation through various channels including an online survey/questionnaire, a dedicated consultation email address, a freepost postal address, a telephone option, and providing feedback at the 8 local engagement sessions held across the County Borough.
A subsequent detailed report outlining the consultation feedback and methodology was made available to Cabinet for consideration. The Cabinet report can be found here and consultation feedback can be found here.
How has feedback from the consultation period fed back into the decision-making process for this service change?
The initial proposal as presented to Cabinet on November 20th, 2023, was to move both primary and secondary school Home to School Transport provisions to be in line with Welsh Government’s statutory legal distance eligibility requirements.
However, in response to the extensive consultation feedback, Cabinet approved the alternative option presented on Wednesday the 20th of March, for primary school transport to remain at its discretionary current level of 1.5 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.
Under the alternative option, as approved by Cabinet, the Council will continue to go beyond its statutory requirement in continuing to provide discretionary transport for Pre-compulsory School Age pupils, Post- 16 Education students, and for learners who are not attending their nearest suitable school because of language preference and/or preferred religious denomination.
Why has this service change been considered?
The Council must set a legally balanced budget each year so that we can continue to provide vital services. This means that the Council must review areas where the service provided goes beyond our statutory legal requirement.
Historically, the Council has provided access to free school transport on a discretionary basis, well in excess of its statutory obligations. This means that the Council currently provides discretionary transport for more learners than almost every other Welsh Council’s Home to School Transport operations.
However, this also means that the Council’s Home to School Transport costs have increased from £8 million in 2015 to over £15 million for the 2023/24 financial year.
The service change, as approved by Cabinet would deliver savings amounting to £1.4M being realised in financial year 2025/26, with the full year saving of £2.5M then being realised from financial year 2026/27. Although, the alternative option approved by Cabinet will reduce the potential overall savings achievable by approximately £200K.
This is within the context of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan, currently forecasting a budget gap of £85.4M to financial year 2026/27.
How will pre-compulsory school age children (under 5’s) be impacted by the service change?
Under Welsh Government guidance, there is no statutory provision for Council’s to provide free school transport to non-compulsory aged learners (aged 3 until end of term in which a child turns 5) attending education through English or Welsh Medium.
Despite this, under the service change the Council will continue to provide free school transport on a discretionary basis for pupils that reside 1.5 miles or further from an available walking distance to their catchment or nearest suitable school. This will be at the beginning and end of the normal school day and not at lunchtimes.
How will changes affect pupils attending Welsh Medium primary education?
Under the service change, the Council will continue to maintain the current discretionary distance criteria of providing transport for all primary schools. This means that the Council continue to provide free transport for Welsh Medium primary school pupils that reside 1.5 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.
As part of the Council’s discretionary provision, learners will continue to be able to select their nearest ‘suitable school’ in accordance with their choice of English or Welsh Medium language.
How will the changes affect pupils attending Welsh Medium secondary education?
Under the service change, transport provision to all secondary schools and colleges (English, Welsh, and Faith) would change to move in line with the relevant statutory distance criteria as set out in the Measure.
This means that the Council will provide free transport for Welsh Medium secondary school pupils that reside 3 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.
As part of the Council’s discretionary provision, learners will continue to be able to select their nearest ‘suitable school’ in accordance with their choice of English or Welsh Medium language.
How will the changes affect pupils attending a primary Faith School?
Under the service change, the Council will maintain the current discretionary distance criteria of providing transport for all primary schools. Therefore, will continue to provide free transport for all primary Faith School pupils that reside 1.5 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.
As part of the Council’s discretionary provision, learners will continue to be able to select their nearest ‘suitable school’ in accordance with their preferred religious denomination.
How will the changes affect pupils attending a secondary Faith School?
Under the service change, transport provision to all secondary schools and colleges (English, Welsh, and Faith) would change to move in line with the relevant statutory distance criteria as set out in the Measure.
This means that the Council will continue to provide free transport for secondary Faith School pupils that reside 3 miles or further from an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school.
As part of the Council’s discretionary provision, learners will continue to be able to select their nearest ‘suitable school’ in accordance with their preferred religious denomination.
What do the changes mean for those attending post-16 education?
There is currently no legal duty to provide free or assisted transport arrangements for non-compulsory school age children.
However, under the service change, the Council will continue to provide discretionary transport for post-16 learners selecting education through English or Welsh Medium, that reside 3 miles or further an available walking distance to their nearest suitable school or college.
My child has Additional Learning Needs, what does this mean for their transport eligibility?
Children and young people who have a disability or additional learning needs attending mainstream education would be assessed individually for transport on a discretionary basis.
Children attending their catchment or nearest special school, pupil referral unit or learning support class are not considered as part of these proposals, so there is no change to their current provision.
What if a child is in receipt of Home to School Transport because their route to school is unsafe?
If a child does not have access to a safe walking route to school, free transport will continue to be provided.
How does parental preference of a school affect entitlement to free home to school transport?
If you choose to place your child in a school other than the nearest suitable or catchment school, then you are required to organise and pay for the cost of transport to the chosen school.
How are walking routes to school assessed?
The criteria used to determine the eligibility to receive free school transport is based on walking distance, measured by the shortest, available walking route. A route is considered to be available if it is safe for a learner to walk alone or, if appropriate for the age of the learner, accompanied by an appropriate adult.
In determining the comparative safety of a walking route, the Council will conduct an assessment of the risks that escorting parents/carers and learners might encounter along the route between home and school. The assessment of a route will take place at the time of the day and on the days of the week that learners would be expected to use the route. It will take a road safety perspective and follow the Welsh Government Statutory Guidance on Risk Assessing Walked Routes to School.
As with all walking routes assessed under the statutory guidance, the topography and weather conditions experienced along a route does not present safety concerns and is not considered.
As confirmed by Cabinet on 20th March, all walking routes to school will be reviewed, and re-assessed where appropriate, prior to eligibility confirmation.
How will I know the distance from my home address to the school address?
The Council is not able to provide individual house measurements, however, as part of the consultation, indicative area maps highlighting the areas affected have been published here on the Council's website. The walking routes used to determine these maps are long established and in daily use.
Parents will be notified directly once all eligibility has been confirmed.
How does the Council measure the distance from home to school?
When measuring walking routes, the Council Uses MapInfo Professional, which takes Government standard Ordnance Survey data and determines address points by using 6-digit geo-codes that is accurate to 1 metre and is generally accepted to be the most accurate data available.
Distances calculated by driving routes or online mapping software that uses post code areas do not represent accurate measurements.
In order to determine the nearest suitable school, it is for the Council to determine the most appropriate route against which to undertake a comparative measurement. This may be via paths, roads or by a combination of routes.
The Council must be consistent in how it assesses eligibility for free school transport, and the Council’s policy states that in cases where distances are disputed, the Council will determine the most appropriate method of measuring the distances. The measurement undertaken by the Council will be final and the definitive distance will be used to assess transport eligibility.
Why are you not proposing the option of purchasing seats (means-tested or otherwise) for all pupils living within the statutory distance to school?
A full review of transport provision will take place based on the number of entitled pupils from September 2025 i.e., those within 3 miles of their nearest suitable secondary school. As a result of this review there is unlikely to be any significant spare capacity to offer seats for sale from September 2025, although these will be made available in line with the Council’s current sale of seat policy.
However, UK Government legislation will soon require any coach/bus used on a scheduled service to provide wheelchair access. That legislation will apply to transport for learners provided by Local Authorities on a discretionary basis where the Local Authorities collect a fee from the learner (i.e., make a charge or sell surplus seats). At this time all buses must be what the UK Government describes as either fully or partially compliant with the legislation by 1 August 2026.
As a result of this change in legislation seats will not be able to be sold on Council contacted school buses from the start of the school year in September 2026.