Council to be asked to approve changes to home to school travel service
Members of the council's people overview and scrutiny committee are due to meet at the Civic Centre in Carlisle next Friday (May 23).
According to the report – Update: Home to School Travel Transformation – the programme has achieved 'significant cost avoidance' during 2024/25 of more than £1.9 million through a robust review of existing high-cost routes.
The report states that new policy elements were agreed by members of the executive committee in February 2025 and it outlines the work being undertaken to reduce costs and next steps.
It is recommended that members endorse the principles underpinning the new elements of policy being introduced, welcome the cost-avoidance achieved to date and seek an update next summer on the operation of the policy and team once the new elements have had a chance to become embedded.
The matter was last discussed at scrutiny in November and demand from children accessing special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) transport has increased since June 2023.
According to the report there were 572 children using the service in June 2023, 615 in March 2024, and 690 in March this year.
It states: 'Home to school transport services remain the largest and most financially challenging area of educational responsibility for councils outside of SEND, with these challenges frequently more acute in county areas and for rural councils.
'Over the past few years, home to school travel has become one of the largest spending pressures on local authority budgets.
'Recent County Council Network (CCN) research, published in November 2024, estimated that councils in England will need to spend £2.3 billion on home to school transport services this year to meet rising costs and demand – a 23 per cent increase in just two years.
'Much of this rise has been interwoven with the rapid growth in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). This SEND dynamic is important as many EHCPs explicitly give rise to the need for costly, bespoke transport arrangements.
'Cumberland has seen a considerable rise in demand for transport as the number of students with EHCPs has significantly increased in recent years.'
The report describes the council's transformation programme as 'a bold and ambitious initiative' that seeks to fundamentally improve the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of the service.
It states: 'By focusing on managing demand, optimising processes, strengthening supply, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, the council can create a service that is resilient, responsive, and aligned with its strategic priorities.'
The report adds: 'This review work will become 'business as usual' in the future to ensure that we are continually driving efficiencies.
'SEND demand, however, is forecast to continue to increase, and the price of new tenders issued from April 2025 onwards will reflect the increase in employers' national insurance contributions as well as other inflationary factors; achieving significant savings against current costs will continue to be challenging.'
The report outlines a number of policy changes which have been implemented including: Independent Travel Training (ITT); Personal Travel Budgets (PTBs); and an Enhanced Spare Seats Scheme.
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