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Hampshire County Council is set to review proposed changes to its school transport policies on Tuesday, February 24th, with decisions potentially impacting services for eligible school-age children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to the Daily Echo and the Hampshire Chronicle. Councillor Roz Chadd, the cabinet lead member for children’s services, will consider feedback from two public consultations before making a final decision. The review primarily focuses on clarifying policy language and the delivery of services, with a key question being the future of the Spare Capacity Seats Scheme.
Background
Hampshire County Council provides transport for school-age children who meet national eligibility criteria, alongside post-16 transport services for young people with SEND. The school transport service is a legal requirement, but the post-16 service is discretionary and chargeable. The council regularly reviews service delivery to ensure efficiency and effective use of resources — particularly given the wider budget pressures it faces.
The proposed modifications aim to streamline the language used within the policies and improve clarity around service delivery. Central to the review is the Spare Capacity Seats Scheme — a scheme that does not apply to post-16 transport — which currently allows non-eligible children to purchase seats on contracted vehicles where space permits, on a temporary and chargeable basis.
The council has been clear that spare seat availability is never guaranteed, with eligible children always taking priority. “Despite the current scheme creating an expectation among parents that spare seats can be available, this is not always possible,” the council stated. Seats can be withdrawn at any time due to operational changes or when needed for eligible passengers. If the proposed changes are approved, the scheme would close to new applicants, though existing users would be able to continue until the end of the current academic year.
The Impact
The families most affected will be those currently using the Spare Capacity Seats Scheme. Existing users retain their place until summer, but the closure to new applications means anyone looking for temporary school transport from this point on would need to make alternative arrangements. The council’s stated aim is to make better use of its vehicle capacity by focusing provision on eligible children and reducing the risk of disruption.
Tuesday’s decision will set the direction for school transport in Hampshire going forward. We’ll bring further updates once the outcome of the review is announced.
Further Reading
- School bus changes in Hampshire set to be reviewed — Daily Echo
- Hampshire school transport policy changes to be decided — Hampshire Chronicle
Hampshire would in many cases be better off having normal services run on routes where many school children use through tendering for routes instead of a closed door contract which won’t attract bums on seats.
An example of this is the 28 \28A Fareham to Whiteley. The new secondary school in Whiteley (which is Henry Court Fareham school moving to a new campus in Whiteley) will involve busing kids to Whiteley FROM Fareham & not the other way round as it is now. Some twiddling of catchment areas will occur so numbers will decrease of school kids going Fareham to Whiteley.
Therefore if HCC got their act together the 28\28A could simply be retimed for school hours & school children catch that instead of a dedicated school bus costing more money!
I get the feeling that HCC want to remove as much funding as they can and wipe their hands of it all.
Their lack of desire for franchising on the basis of “there is too much rural stuff” demonstrates that in my opinion.