The Children and Young People's Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss home to school transport, elective home education, and child poverty in County Durham. The committee was expected to note reports on these topics, and provide comments to inform future priorities.

Home to School Transport

The committee was scheduled to discuss home to school transport (HTSTP), with a report from John Pearce, Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services, and a presentation from Clare Nicholls, Interim Head of Strategy, Assurance & Specialist Services, and Jim Murray, Head of Education & Skills.

The report noted that HTSTP costs have become a significant financial challenge for local authorities, especially in rural areas, due to the rising number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) requiring specialised transport. The local transformation programme, introduced in 2023, aims to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of HTSTP by reviewing and optimising existing policies, procedures and commissioning arrangements.

The presentation outlined that the council provides daily transport to 9,000 mainstream, passengers with Special Education Needs / Disability (SEND) and other special provision, via 1200 contracts and utilising over 300 different suppliers. The council offers a range of travel assistance options, including bus passes, home-to-school transport via minibus or taxi, and personal travel budgets (PTB).

The presentation also noted that local drivers mirror the national picture, with an increase in the use of taxis and passenger assistants, driven by a growing number of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Regulations requiring enhanced vehicle accessibility, inflation, fuel prices, and wage increases have pushed contractor and general costs higher.

The local change programme includes a review of the DCC Concessionary scheme, existing single person transport and passenger assistants, the existing independence offer, existing unsafe routes, and the existing approach to procurement and market engagement.

The presentation also highlighted a successful trial using the council's in-house bus fleet and drivers for certain home-to-school transport contracts, highlighting cost savings and operational insights.

The trial of three home-to-school transport routes using the in-house fleet achieved daily savings of £292.01, totalling £55,481.90 over a 190-day school year.

Child Poverty in County Durham

The committee was scheduled to discuss child poverty in County Durham, with a report from John Pearce, Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services, and a presentation from Gail Earl, Strategic Manager, One Point Service Early Help, Inclusion and Vulnerable Children CYPS, and Lindsey Davison, Child Poverty & Social Inclusion Operations Manager Early Help, Inclusion and Vulnerable Children CYPS.

The report noted that poverty can affect every area of a child's development: social, educational, health and personal. County Durham, like much of the North East, has high levels of child poverty, which coincide with elevated demand for children's social care services.

National research finds that 50–75% of the variation in child protection plan or care rates between areas can be explained by socio-economic factors like poverty.

The Child Poverty Working Group (CPWG) has developed a plan to prioritise actions to mitigate the impact of poverty on children and families across County Durham. The plan focuses on four key priorities:

• All those who have contact with children, young people and adults who are parents/carers in County Durham have the skills and knowledge to identify and support children and families affected by poverty at the earliest opportunity.
• Promote social inclusion to ensure all expectant mams/dads, babies, children, young people and families have access to health, educational and wellbeing activities which build resilience and supports children and families to thrive.
• Undertake a range of co production activities with children, young people, parents and carers to better understand the impact of and responses to poverty.
• Raise aspirations and resilience of children, young people and parents/carers.

The report also highlighted a number of initiatives to support families, including:

• Financial Inclusion in Education Settings
• Financial Inclusion Support Officers (FISO's)
• Help with Buying Items for School
• Period Poverty Scheme
• North East Combined Authority (NECA) Mayors Childcare Grant Pilot
• Help with your Money Webpage
• Healthy Start Scheme¹
• Household Support Fund
• Feeding Families
• Reducing Food Waste - The Bread-and-Butter Thing (TBBT)
• Holiday Activities with Healthy Food Programme 2025 - Fun and Food
• Start for Life Fund (SFLF)
• Family Hubs in County Durham
• Free School Meal Auto Enrolment

Elective Home Education

The committee was scheduled to discuss elective home education, with a report from John Pearce, Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services, and a presentation from Jim Murray, Head of Education & Skills and Clare Nicholls, Interim Head of Strategy, Assurance & Specialist Services.

The report noted that nationally, the number of parents and carers choosing to home educate their children are rising, and that local rates mirror the national trend. Published data for the 2024/25 academic year shows that at 1% of the child and young person school age population, County Durham's rate of Elective Home Education is similar with average national, regional and statistical neighbours.

The presentation outlined the role of parents and the local authority in elective home education. Parents are not legally required to notify local authorities when starting home education for a child not previously enrolled in school, but it is recommended to facilitate access to support. Parents must provide an efficient and suitable full-time education for compulsory school-age children and bear full financial responsibility if the child is not in state-funded or local authority-provided education.

The local authority has a duty to monitor home education, and should make arrangements to ascertain whether children receive suitable full-time education, acting in the child's best interests if changes occur.

The presentation also noted that a children's wellbeing and school's bill is currently progressing through parliament which proposes that families must register with their local authority when home educating, aims to create database of children receiving education outside traditional schools and proposes that local authorities assess the suitability of home education programs.