Agenda item

To submit a joint report by the Director of Education, Skills and Young People, and the Head of Highways, Waste and Property.

Councillor R.G. Parry, OBE, FRAgS, Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste and Property presented the report by the Head of Highways, Waste and Property regarding the impact of the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) on the sale of vacant seats on school and college transport. The report set out how the Authority proposes to address the impact of the regulations on its home to school transport provision.

Section 40 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 grants the Secretary of State the power to make regulations to ensure that Public Service Vehicles are accessible to people with disabilities. The National Government used these powers to establish the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR).From 1 January, 2020 the PSVAR have been relevant to coaches with more than 22 seats and the vehicle needed to be accessible to people with disabilities. However, the Department of Transport was offering an exemption certificate providing exemption form the regulations until 1 January, 2022. Most of the Authority’s existing agreements for school transport are with local coach carriage companies and their vehicles do not meet the new specifications. The Executive previously approved the decision not to charge Anglesey non-statutory pupils and further education students for the 2021/22 academic year which meant that the regulations did not apply after 1 January, 2022; the proposal is to continue with this approach. Requiring operators to provide such vehicles would give pupils with disabilities the option of travelling by bus, but in similar situations this Authority and other authorities throughout Wales, provide suitable taxi transport directly from pupils’ home to the yard of the educational establishment. Offering free bus transport is also in line with the Government’s transport vision – Y Llwybr Newydd – as it will lead to fewer vehicles on roads and make school bus transport a more attractive option. Whilst not charging may mean more pupils wanting to use the provision, there has been very little increase in demand in the 2021/22 academic year and steps are in place to manage the risk of misuse.

The Head of Service (Highways, Waste and Property) highlighted that a timely decision is advisable so as to ensure that tender and contract specifications are accurate ahead of the implementation of new school bus contracts in September, 2022. He advised that it is doubtful whether in the current uncertain bus market local operators would be able to afford to adapt their existing vehicles or purchase new vehicles to meet the needs of pupils with disabilities should the Authority require them to do so with the resulting risk that the Authority may not be able to offer transport provision for pupils. Since the Executive’s decision  last year not to charge a travel fee for Anglesey’s non-statutory pupils and further education pupils for the current academic year the estimates of what it would cost to upgrade an operator’s bus has risen from £5,000 to £7,000 annually to in the region of £10,000 to £15,000 per year per contract meaning that the difference between the cost of providing buses that meet the regulations for over 50 contracts per annum and the loss of ticket income is significant as evidenced in the report.

Councillor Carwyn Jones and Llinos Medi declared a personal interest at this point on the basis that the decision could affect their own households in the next school year and said that they would not therefore vote on the matter.

The Head of Service (Highways, Waste and Property) advised that since the Authority provides free transport for secondary school pupils who live at least 3 miles from their nearest suitable school, the decision in this matter only affects those secondary school pupils who live at a distance of less than 3 miles from their nearest suitable school and for primary school pupils, less than 2 miles. Based on this advice the Interim Head of Function (Council Business)/ Monitoring Officer confirmed that the two Members could vote on the matter if they believed they met the criteria. Councillors Carwyn Jones and Llinos Medi indicated that they preferred not to vote.

It was resolved that the Authority should not charge a travel fee for Anglesey’s non-statutory pupils and further education students -

·        until the start of October, 2025 with the option of extending for a further two years (if the PSVAR regulations were to change during this period, it could be reconsidered);

·         that the Authority continue with the vacant seats scheme based on capacity for those years. For this academic year the Authority has offered the Vacant Seats Scheme on school buses (which is the scheme prior to this academic year, which sold empty seats on school transport to non-statutory pupils) for free.

(Councillors Carwyn Jones and Llinos Medi did not vote on the matter)