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General Appeals Sub Committee - Tuesday, 16th September, 2025 10.30 am
September 16, 2025 View on council websiteSummary
The General Appeals Sub Committee met to consider an appeal regarding school transport assistance. Councillor Sarah Bennett-Wake declared an interest, and the Sub-Committee then moved into a closed session to discuss the school transport appeal. The Sub-Committee unanimously decided to uphold the appeal.
School Transport Appeal - Case 1
The Sub-Committee considered an appeal against the Cheshire East Council's School Transport Team's decision to not offer travel assistance. The appeal was heard based on written and oral evidence from the Presenting Officer, who detailed the local authority's case, and written evidence from the appellant. Members of the Sub-Committee asked questions for clarification. Following the Presenting Officer's withdrawal, the Sub-Committee unanimously voted to uphold the appeal.
The council's policy on school transport is detailed in the Compulsory School Age Education Travel Policy. According to the policy, the council is legally required to provide free school travel to 'eligible children'. To be eligible, a child must be of compulsory school age1 and attending a qualifying school2, and must meet one of the following criteria:
- Living outside the statutory walking distance3 of the nearest suitable school4 (2 miles for children under 8, 3 miles for children aged 8-16).
- The route to school is unsafe to walk.
- Coming from a low-income family and meeting specific distance criteria.
- Unable to walk to school due to mobility problems or health and safety concerns related to special educational needs or disability (SEND).
Declarations of Interest
Councillor Sarah Bennett-Wake, Chair of the meeting, declared that she had friends who worked at the school subject to the appeal, but did not know the appellant. This was declared in the interest of openness.
Public Speaking Time/Open Session
There were no public speakers at the meeting.
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Compulsory school age begins at the beginning of the term following a child's 5th birthday and ceases on the last Friday in June in the school year when the child reaches the age of 16. ↩
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Qualifying schools include community, foundation or voluntary schools, community or foundation special schools, non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units, maintained nursery schools, city technology colleges, city colleges for the technology of the arts or academies, including studio schools, free schools and University Technical Colleges. ↩
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The statutory distance is measured by the shortest route along which a child, accompanied if necessary, may walk in reasonable safety. ↩
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The nearest suitable school is defined as the nearest qualifying school with places available that provides education appropriate to the age, ability and aptitude of the child and considering any special educational needs that the child may have. ↩
Attendees
Topics
No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.