Post 16 Transport Policy Consultation

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Purpose	Lancashire County Council is currently undertaking a consultation regarding proposed changes to the Post 16 Transport Policy and particularly the subsidy for the transport grant for school sixth form students. Lancashire County Council currently operates a discretionary Transport Grant Scheme for school sixth form students. The majority of this grant has previously been funded by an annual subsidy provided by the government through the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA). This funding came to an end in August 2011. As we no longer receive the subsidy from the YPLA we have to review this area of support, and make tough choices about the services we continue to fund and how we best utilise limited resources to meet our statutory responsibilities and support the most vulnerable members of our communities. The Council is seeking your views on the proposal to end the Transport Grant Scheme for all school sixth form students from 1st September 2012. The full consultation document is available below. The consultation will be open from the 19th September 2011 until the 1st December 2011.
Subject	School services eg meals, crossing, EPS Young people
Commissioned by	Transport Grant Team

Geographic area	All of Lancashire
Method	Questionnaire - online Questionnaire - postal
Consultation with	Children aged 14-19 years General public Parents/carers Schools/parents/governors Service users
Date	19/09/2011 - 01/12/2011
Undertaken by	Transport Grant Team

Results

Key findings	Following the consultation County Councillor Susie Charles, the Cabinet Member for Children and Schools, has approved the proposal to close the Transport Grant Scheme from September 2012 onwards. We have listened carefully to the views of those we have consulted and because of this we have made a change to the original proposal. A large number of respondents to the consultation expressed concern about the impact of closing the scheme if a student is only halfway through their studies. We now recognise that the closure of the scheme may be detrimental to those students entering their second year of study in September 2012, as choices of further education may have been based on the availability of the transport grant. In order to do our best to help these students, the initial proposal has been amended so that the scheme will be closed to new entrants in September 2012, whilst students who currently receive the grant will be eligible to reapply for it to support them in their final year. If you would like more information on this, the full annual Transport Policy statement, detailing the transport arrangements available to ensure learners aged 16+ can access education or training, will be published on 31 May 2012 as specified in the Education Act 1996 Section 509(AA). If you have any questions regarding the consultation, or need further information, please telephone the Transport Grant Team on 01772 530430.

Key findings

Following the consultation County Councillor Susie Charles, the Cabinet Member for Children and Schools, has approved the proposal to close the Transport Grant Scheme from September 2012 onwards. We have listened carefully to the views of those we have consulted and because of this we have made a change to the original proposal.

A large number of respondents to the consultation expressed concern about the impact of closing the scheme if a student is only halfway through their studies. We now recognise that the closure of the scheme may be detrimental to those students entering their second year of study in September 2012, as choices of further education may have been based on the availability of the transport grant.

In order to do our best to help these students, the initial proposal has been amended so that the scheme will be closed to new entrants in September 2012, whilst students who currently receive the grant will be eligible to reapply for it to support them in their final year.

If you would like more information on this, the full annual Transport Policy statement, detailing the transport arrangements available to ensure learners aged 16+ can access education or training, will be published on 31 May 2012 as specified in the Education Act 1996 Section 509(AA).

If you have any questions regarding the consultation, or need further information, please telephone the Transport Grant Team on 01772 530430.

Project document(s)

Report(s)

Contact information

For more information about this research contact:

If you have any questions regarding the consultation, or need further information, please telephone the Transport Grant Team on 01772 530430.
Email: studentservices@lancashire.gov.uk