School bus appeal - do I have grounds?

[BlimeyIsThatTheTime]

Sorry long, though hopefully not drippy…..

We live in the middle of nowhere, my children go to our first choice primary school in the nearest town (school A) about 5 miles away, the school in our village closed down years ago, the nearest school to us is a tiny village school a few miles away which we didn’t like (school B). We currently drive our children both ways to the nearest town which is now becoming difficult as we launch a new business.

When our village school closed the council told people that they would get places and free transport to the town school. We applied for free transport on that basis but have been told that because we’re slightly outside the village that this policy doesn’t apply to us, even though the closed school would have been our nearest. I was sort of OK with this until I found out that a near neighbour who lives slightly further away from both schools gets free transport, she said she appealed on the basis of the assurances given by the council and at the time (about 6 years ago) this was upheld. She said that she’s happy for me to use her as an example and that there were absolutely no other special circumstances leading to their decision (ie. no hardship / SEN considerations - she volunteered this). I’ve gone back to the council pointing out that my neighbour gets free transport to the town school and they’ve said that this decision would have been made ‘exceptionally and outside the policy’ by the transport team and councillor at the time.

The school bus has spaces and literally passes my house, if I were to move my children to the nearest school then the council would have to pay for a taxi to get them there as there’s no bus.

If it makes any difference we are currently claiming working tax credits. We could pay for a space on the bus but this would cause us hardship at the moment.

I have the right to appeal - any thoughts?

I don’t think a decision made 6 years ago will have much impact now. They will also argue you made the choice to use the further away school.

No harm in trying to appeal but I wouldn’t expect it to successful.

If the school was 5 miles away and was the nearest school then there would be no question that given the travel distance that the LA would have to provide transport.
The issue is that all LAs will only give transport to the nearest school and that is the school you do not want.
You should appeal on the basis of the promise 6 years ago (though that is now stretching it a lot to say it is still relevant). The question that you need to establish at the appeal is why the LA made this promise rather than just the free transport they would have to supply for School B.
You also could, though it may not be received well, suggest that given the circumstances you will not be able to get to school A and therefore will be applying for a place at school B, when they will have to provide transport as the nearest school, so why not just provide the transport to school A, as it passes the house.
It would be sensible to establish before any appeal what the situation is at school B regarding numbers in the year group your child is in. Obviously if it is full then this is more reason for saying that the LA needs to provide transport to school A.

We got offered free transport to and from school (didnt take it up as happy to drive) it was offered because we did not get any of our preferred local schools and school we were allocated was over 2 miles away, if you are awarded your preferred school however far it is then you will not be given free transport, you chose it its down to you to get them there im afraid.

Thanks for your replies, I understand the rules, just deeply annoying that they didn't apply them to my neighbour in the same circumstances, it was a long time ago but the policy doesn't seem to have changed at all since then. I'll check about school's B availability.

Can you do a PAYG thing with the bus which would be cheaper than your mileage? We do this as we are out of normal area for school but the bus passes our house on way to/from depot so we pay 75 pence each way for a ride to or from school (4 miles) which is way cheaper than paying mileage to our nanny.

When we were children we lived out in the sticks in a lovely village and the village (if you could call it that) school had been closed and then reopened as a SN school. My mum drove us 9 miles each way to the preferred school, she actually had to sign something to say she would never request assistance on getting us to or from school.

I suppose currently it would seem silly not to allow your child a space on the bus, but what would then happen if a child who fell within the catchment area joined the school and needed that place and it was the last one on the bus, they would have set the precedent by allowing you so would have to put on additional transport for the additional child ( if that makes sense, if not ignore )

Can't help with the specifics on this but second you doing a full appeal on all relevant points.

I drafted an appeal for my dgodson when he moved schools due to bullying. Original decision said no room on the bus. After the appeal letter reminded them what their legal obligations were and the criteria for providing transport to school etc miraculously there was a place. On the same bus.

I got the distinct impression that they didn't care at stage 1 and only properly looked at it at stage 2.

Also a decision 6 years ago is relevant given the number of years dc's are at school so push on that too. X

Decisions made 6 years ago might be time limited. It’s not a given that it can be applied now. Assuming no child started in TR when the school closed, children at the school 6 years ago must be 11 plus. They have moved on. If school B is now catchment, the school the op wants isn’t catchment. Hence no free bus.

I would ask to see the provisions that were made for children when the school closed and what the intention was for future years regarding school provision and transport. I think if you can dig up proof there was the town school alternative, you can argue that case.

Or say you will pay and agree to relinquish the seats if another child takes prescedence over yours. They might accept this.

I would have thought that the promise from the council might well be only that the children "currently at the school" will get free transport. If you're appealing now, then I think it's unlikely you are in that situation.
But if there's a school closer (with spaces) then I don't think you'll get anywhere.