The Members Home to School Transport Appeals Panel met to consider an appeal regarding the provision of free school transport. The panel unanimously resolved to refuse the appeal, upholding the council's decision.

Appeal Against Refusal of Free School Transport

The panel considered an appeal by applicant R.F. against the authority's decision not to provide free school transport. The appeal was lodged because R.F.'s home address was within the statutory walking distance of the nearest Local Education Authority (LEA) designated school, which is defined as three miles for secondary school pupils.

The council's Home to School Transport Policy states that free transport is generally provided to pupils who live beyond this statutory walking distance. In this case, the walking route from R.F.'s home to the designated school had been assessed as suitable in accordance with Welsh Government criteria.

After reviewing the written representations from the appellant, the observations of departmental officers, and the specific circumstances of the case, the panel unanimously resolved to refuse the appeal. This decision was made in line with the Authority's Home to School Transport Policy. The public were excluded from this part of the meeting due to the inclusion of personal information relating to the applicant, with the panel determining that the public interest in maintaining confidentiality outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

The following individuals were present at the meeting: Councillor E.G. Thomas (Chair), Councillor G. Davies, Councillor S.L. Davies (Local Member), Stella Rossiter (Assistant Solicitor), A. Evans (Operations Manager - Passenger Transport), Kelly A. Phillips (Passenger Transport Policy & Development Manager), Mike Jacob (Traffic and Road Safety Manager), Gemma Thomas (Assistant Schools Admissions Officer), Kelly Evans (Democratic Services Officer), and Kayleigh James (Solicitor, observing).