Letters sent to the transport crew about Home to School Transport re-procurement - June 2023

Dear Transport Crew,

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your co-operation and hard work in providing transport to more than 600 children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to more than 70 schools/colleges.

We’re very aware of the importance of your role and the real complexity of the work you undertake, and we sincerely thank you for all that you do.

As you know, the needs of the pupils travelling in your care includes physical, emotional, communication and learning disabilities and, in some cases, behaviour that challenges. Some of the children you transport have medical conditions and are prone to seizures during their time in the vehicle.

By providing safe and friendly transport you make a real difference. The Parent and Carers Council (PACC) often refers to home to school transport as crucial ‘bookends’ to the school day. We’ve met some of you at our routine spot checks over the year and have been impressed by the respect, empathy and understanding you show the children and young people.

PACC also sends its appreciation on behalf of children, young people and their families.

Re-procurement of the Service in 2023 - What’s happening and why?

As we told you last year, the council has a legal responsibility to renew its Home to School Transport contract every four years. The current contract started in 2019, so must be renewed by August 2023, with taxi firms and minibus companies bidding for the routes they want to operate.

Will there be changes?

Legally the council must put the routes out to tender at the start of the new contract. This means you may not be taking the same children and young people to school / college that you’ve been regularly transporting.

It’s also possible of course that the existing operators will win their bid for the routes they run now and will ask you to continue to work on these routes – in which case there may be little to no change.

Once routes have been allocated, there should be broad continuity year on year over the next four years, although changes can still happen.

Crew Handbook

In readiness for the new contract starting from September, we have developed a crew handbook which we hope will help you.

The handbook is quick and easy read to complement and embed the training you will have completed. The handbook covers the following topics:

working together to meet the needs of all children on our service,

  • Our Children and Young People
  • Code of Conduct & Safeguarding
  • Communication and breaking down barriers
  • Driver and Vehicle Passenger Assistant Responsibilities
  • Keeping children safe on the journey
  • Accidents, breakdowns and medical emergencies
  • Staff illness
  • Parent/carer not home procedure

Transport Operators have been encouraged to have a printed copy of the handbook in your vehicle. You can read the Driver and Vehicle Passenger Assistant handbook online.

Next steps

Over the next few months your Operator will confirm which routes they have been awarded and which routes they would like you to work. We expect that as a minimum you are paid at the voluntary living wage for the work you do. As many of you are self-employed we recognise that you may work for more than one Operator.

We know last minute changes can generate stress, create a shaky start or even trigger transport refusal by some children. If you do transport new children and young people, your operator will ask you to arrange a ‘Meet & Greet’ with families before the end of August to ensure a smooth September.

If you’re on holiday during this time, you may be asked to send your photo and a short description of yourself for parents and carers to share with their children. You may even like to record a short introductory video.

The comfort, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are at the forefront of how the new contract will be awarded, operated and managed. If you would like to talk further about any aspect of this letter, please contact HometoSchoolTransport@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call 01273 293 501.

Letters sent about Home to School Transport - June 2023

We want to update you on the progress of the home-to-school transport service for September 2023.

September 2023 re-procurement update

As you know this summer the council must legally put all home-to-school transport routes back out to tender, and every 4 years thereafter. This may mean your child’s travel arrangements change from September 2023.

Transport Operators (a taxi firm or minibus company) are currently bidding on all 200+ home-to-school transport journeys (routes) and will continue to do so throughout the summer as new applications for free council-funded transport are made.

Over the next couple of months, we'll be writing to you to let you know when a Transport Operator has been awarded your child’s route (journey).

A new Transport Operator might be awarded your child’s route, in which case there might be a change of crew member, equally likely is the possibility that the existing Transport Operator will be awarded the route. There is no way of anticipating the outcome of the bidding process which must be run in accordance with procurement legislation and best practice.

What we do know, is that once the routes have been allocated, they will become the baseline for the service. Much like the current service, there should be some broad continuity year on year over the next 4 years, although the movement of students in and out of the service does mean that changes do happen.

All crews must adhere to the same Code of Conduct, undergo enhanced DBS checks and complete full training. There should be consistency of approach to whichever operator or crew provides home-to-school transport for your child or young person.

With home-to-school transport, there is always the risk of ‘route return’. This is when a Transport Operator bids on a route and then returns it which could be for various reasons.

This can happen at short notice as routes are put out to bid between now and August as more applications for free transport come into the service throughout the summer months. Whilst this practice has been reduced, it can cause delay and disruption to pupil travel.

If your child’s route is returned, we'll contact you.

Next steps in the re-procurement process

When we've allocated your Transport Operator, they'll ask their crews to contact you directly to:

  • introduce themselves to you and your child
  • confirm pick-up and drop-off arrangements

They have also been asked to contact you to confirm even if there has been no change to your child’s crew.

You may not hear from your Operator until the end of July. This is because they may want to wait until all their routes have been awarded over the next few months as more applications come in before they confirm who your crew will be.

If you do not hear from your Operator by 31 July 2023, contact us:

Making your own travel arrangements

We recognise that some parents and carers would prefer to make their own travel arrangements.

If you would rather make your own arrangements, you're entitled to receive a mileage payment of 52p per mile, for 4 journeys a day, over 190 school days.

If you would prefer to do this, we can arrange this for you instead of hiring transport. Contact us to ask us to arrange this:

We'll continue to keep you updated on the home-to-school transport re-procurement in the coming weeks and months.

Read more about the re-procurement of the home-to-school transport service.

Crew handbook

In readiness for the new contract starting in September, we've developed a crew handbook which has been sent to all crews providing home-to-school transport for your child.

The handbook is quick and easy read to complement and embed our training. The handbook covers the following topics:

  • working together to meet the needs of all children on our service
  • our children and young people
  • Code of Conduct and Safeguarding
  • communication and breaking down barriers
  • Driver and Vehicle Passenger Assistant responsibilities
  • keeping children safe on the journey
  • accidents, breakdowns and medical emergencies
  • staff illness
  • the procedure if a parent/carer is not home

Transport Operators have been encouraged to put a printed copy of the handbook in the vehicle.

Read the Driver and Vehicle Passenger Assistant Handbook.

Post 16 Policy Statement

Annually the council consults and publishes its Post 16 Policy Statement which sets out travel assistance support to all pupils over 16, including those without SEND.

No substantial changes have been made for the upcoming academic year, but we have better laid out eligibility criteria and the evidence we need to determine eligibility.

It's important to note the statutory guidance around council-funded travel assistance changes at 16, and parents/carers may be expected to provide transport for their sixth-form-aged child, where they are able to do so.

The statutory guidance changes again at 19 (the adult transport duty). The intention of the adult transport duty is to ensure that ‘those with the most severe disabilities with no other means of transportation can undertake further education and training after their 19th birthday to help them move towards more independent living'.

Read the Post 16 Transport Policy Statement.

Staff awards

Every year, Brighton & Hove Parents & Carers Council (PaCC) invite their members to nominate professionals, teams or organisations who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in their work with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families.

The winners were announced on 17 June 2023 during an in-person event.

Becky Robinson, PaCC Chair, introduced the event, which was attended by PaCC parents and carers, and all the nominees. Georgina Clarke-Green, the council’s Assistant Director for health, SEN and disabilities presented the awards.

Here at Home to School Transport headquarters we were delighted that 2 long-serving Officers in our team, Katy and Gemma, were chosen as winners in the Customer Service category, following a lovely nomination they received.

The parent carer who nominated them said: “Gemma and Katy have gone above and beyond to make my daughter’s route and journey accessible, meet her needs, and she even did a dance when she saw her transport vehicle and met her team last autumn. I’ve never seen her so happy and ready to begin her college/school year before. Whatever the issues – and there are many – Gemma and Katy resourcefully listen, know what to do, and react with great integrity and enduring calmness that leaves me feeling empowered and my daughter’s needs understood and met at all times”.

Read more about PaCC awards winners and why they were nominated.

Photograph of two people receiving awards at the PaCC staff awards

Satisfaction survey

If you have not already done so, we'd welcome more feedback on our service.

A PDF version survey is available to complete and return. To access this, or if you need help or assistance, contact us:

Letters sent about Home to School Transport re-procurement - March 2023

September 2023 re-procurement PaCC Connect events

As you know this is the last year that the existing home-to-school contract will run. This summer the council must legally put routes back out to tender, and every 4 years thereafter. This may mean your child’s travel arrangements change from September 2023.

On 8 February, the Home to School Transport Team and the Parent and Carers Council (PaCC) held 2 joint PaCC Connect sessions which explained:

  • the upcoming changes to how the service is procured
  • the way the service operates behind the scenes

The focus was on how team members have key areas of responsibility and showing everything in place to ensure a safe, reliable, and well-run service.

Central to the presentation was the principle that children's and young people’s needs are always at the forefront of everything we do.

You can read the briefing that was sent to parents and carers who attended, and the question and answers which arose from the sessions.

Post 16 Policy Statement Consultation

Annually we seek your views on a document which sets out the transport support available to sixth-form age students and adult learners (over 19 years of age, with an Education Health and Care Plan), travelling to their educational settings.

The Policy Statement sets out the travel support and schemes that are available from:

  • the council
  • schools
  • colleges
  • transport providers

We're not proposing any significant changes to the 2023 to 2024 Policy Statement from September 2023.

Potential changes in September 2024

We're looking to introduce a couple of changes, which, if approved by the Children Young People and Skills Committee, could come into effect in September 2024. 

According to National Guidance on Post 16 transport and travel support to education and training, there is no legal requirement for councils to provide free or subsidised travel support to young people of sixth form age (between 16 and 19 years of age), including those with special educational needs and or disabilities.

There are 2 proposed changes for September 2024.

  1. The discontinuation of free travel support over and above what is required by law and introducing a partial parental contribution towards travel assistance to pupils of sixth-form age
  2. The timings of travel for this age group

We've decided to consult on the 2024 to 2025 policy early so that it can be finalised in plenty of time to allow parents and young people to have a full understanding of what support will be available to them when they apply for sixth-form education options for September 2024.

No decisions about these proposals have been made. We're committed to a broad consultation on these proposals before the council decides.

We can give you this information in any other way that will help you access it. To request this information in another way:

Crew training and handbook

Over the last month, our SEND Officer has been working with colleagues in the Brighton and Hove Inclusion Service, safeguarding and SEND to develop home-to-school transport refresher training for crews.

We're asking all our existing crews to complete this if they have not carried out training with us in the last academic year. All new crews must complete the full 9 home-to-school training modules prior to undertaking their first journey.

The modules have been designed with relevant colleagues in each area and they cover:

  • an introduction to the role
  • SEND
  • safeguarding
  • language and communication
  • autism
  • behaviour
  • epilepsy
  • exploitation
  • equalities and the Equality Act

We're also developing a Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) training module. We're extremely proud of our extensive training offer which has been bought by other council’s home-to-school transport services.

In readiness for the new contract starting in September, we've been creating a crew handbook which will be sent to all crews after they have completed our training. The handbook is quick and easy to read and complements our training.

The handbook will cover these topics:

  • working together to meet the needs of all children on our service
  • our children and young people
  • safeguarding
  • communication and breaking down barriers
  • drivers
  • vehicle passenger assistants
  • keeping children safe on the journey
  • accidents, breakdowns, and medical emergencies
  • staff illness
  • the procedure for when parents and carers aren't home

I hope this update is helpful.

If you have any further queries: