Agenda item

[Report of the Deputy Chief Executive. To be introduced by the Cabinet  Member for Children and Families.] The report will present the draft Haringey Travel Policy for permission to consult with a range of stakeholders including users; parent, family and other carers; schools; partners and local residents.

The Cabinet Member for Children & Families introduced the report which set out the Council’s intentions for consultation with a wide range of stakeholders before the final Travel Policy was presented to Cabinet for approval later in the year. The Travel Policy was a statutory requirement that set out how the Council will meet its obligations with regards to pupils travelling to school and meet the travel requirements for adults with learning disabilities and disabilities. This was the first time both adult and children travel obligations had been brought together in one policy, following the Care Act 2014. The Cabinet Member advised that the Council was seeking to move towards a consistent and equitable way of supporting people in the provision of Council funded travel.

In response to a question from Cllr Morris, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that significant savings had to be made in Children’s Services, including in the Home to School transport budget, but stated that officers were working closely with parents of children who had SEN issues to ensure that any changes to the service would not unduly impact the welfare of those children. The Cabinet Member added that the approach of the new policy was to make the system easier, taking into account the child’s needs and also the need develop a sense of independence for when the children leave school. A full consultation was to be undertaken and the responses from it would be incorporated into a final report back to Cabinet.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the draft Travel Policy for consultation with stakeholders for a period of 90 days.

2.    Officers to prepare a report for Cabinet on the feedback from the consultation undertaken and for a decision on the proposed Travel Policy.

Reasons for decision

There is a clear case for change as set out in the Corporate Plan priorities to give children the best start in life and to enable healthy and fulfilling lives for all residents. The current Council arrangements for travel support do not rest upon a single clearly stated policy position and can be seen as at variance with wider policy imperatives to promote independence, widen personalisation and enable greater resilience.

The draft policy, however, rests upon a general assumption and expectation that service users will meet their own needs for travel to access and take advantage of existing services or support and will use public transport to develop independence, social and life skills. Haringey recognises that to enable the promotion of independence for children, young people and adults requires the provision of support initiatives such as travel training and the development of community involvement. Funded passenger transport will not be directly provided unless, following assessment, it is deemed to be the only reasonable means of ensuring that the service user can be safely transported to an assessed and eligible service.

Haringey Council is also committed to reducing traffic congestion, improving road safety and reducing the environmental impact of vehicle journeys by promoting alternative forms of travel, such as walking, wheel chairing, cycling and use of integrated public transport. Wherever possible, in the provision of travel assistance the Authority will consider travel options for ‘eligible children and adults’ that lead to reducing the number and length of vehicle journeys as well as promoting independence and enabling mobility.

Alternative options considered

Alternative options have been considered, including separate Travel Policies for children and young people and for adults and maintaining the current position of not having a shared policy statement for travel. Neither of these options is considered viable given the requirements set out in the Care Act in respect of transitions and the importance of travel to giving children the best start in life and enabling adults to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

The contents of the Policy reflect the wider strategic aims of the Council to promote independence for children, young people and adults with the appropriate levels of support and training. The option of maintaining the current model of travel support was not considered to meet these wider strategic aims due to the emphasis placed on access to passenger transport.