Sustainable School Travel Strategy

The Sustainable School Travel Strategy is being introduced to deliver the Education and Inspections Act 2006 statutory duties relating to home school transport. It will further integrate work between departments in Plymouth City Council involved in school travel work, with a greater emphasis on promoting sustainable travel and assessing the transport needs of all children.

Current legislation

Current school transport legislation was formed in 1944, and provides a guarantee of home to school transport for only a small minority of pupils; those of compulsory school age attending their nearest suitable school where this is beyond ‘statutory walking distance’.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 extends local authority duties and powers relating to home to school transport. It places a general duty on local authorities to assess the travel and transport needs of all pupils, and promote sustainable travel to school.

In particular:

• An assessment of the travel and transport needs of children, and young people within the authority’s area.
• An audit of the sustainable travel and transport infrastructure within the authority that may be used when travelling to and from, or between schools and institutions.
• A strategy to develop the sustainable travel and transport infrastructure within the authority so that the travel and transport needs of children and young people are better catered for.
• The promotion of sustainable travel and transport modes on the journey to, from, and between schools and other institutions.

Extending transport provision

By extending entitlement to free home to school transport for low income families (for secondary aged pupils to any one of the three nearest suitable schools, where the distance travelled is between two and six miles, and to the nearest school preferred on grounds of religion or belief where this is between two and 15 miles; and for primary aged pupils aged over eight, to their nearest school where this is more than two miles from their home).

Implementing the strategy in Plymouth

The Council aims to do this by pulling together and updating existing strategies and policies already successfully used in Plymouth to enable one point of reference for parents to make informed travel decisions for the journey to school.

The full Sustainable School Travel Strategy will be added to this page when it is available.