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Liverpool City Council has strict criteria which determine a pupil’s eligibility for Home to School Transport.  The criteria are available in the document ‘Home to School Transport Policy 2019-20’.  The policy applies to pupils with special educational needs who are up to 16 years old on 1st September of the applicable academic year.  Separate arrangements apply to students who are aged 16 - 18 and 19 - 25 who hold an Education Health Care Plan and are remaining in education. 

Transport arrangements for eligible students aged 16 – 18 years are set out in the document LCC Post 16 Transport Statement.

Transport  arrangements for eligible Students aged 19-25 are made through Adult Services and will be discussed either at the Transition Review held as the student moves to Adult Services, or through a Social Work Assessment.  For Further information, please see the document ‘Adult Services and Health.  Transport Eligibility Criteria Policy’ or telephone the Adult Careline on 233 3019. 

Referrals for an assessment of eligibility for Home to School Transport aged 18 or under may be made via a school or the SEN Placement and Assessment Service or by completion of the Application Form for Home to School Transport.  All referrals should be made to the Transport Team using the above contact details and referrals will be considered within five working days of receipt.

Should an application for transport be declined, a parent/carer may appeal this decision. Details of how to appeal are contained in the documents section on this page under "Home to School Transport Appeals Process".     

Pupils deemed eligible for Home to School Transport will be offered one planned journey to and from school at normal school opening and closing times.  Transport will be in the form of:

•  A bus pass (except in cases where a pupil receives a free bus pass issued to eligible pupils by Merseytravel and the time restrictions applied to the pass will facilitate attendance).
• Minibus or taxi transport.
• Where a parent/carer is willing to transport the pupil to school, they can apply for a personal transport budget. Where this is the most cost effective transport option, and the local authority is satisfied that attendance would not be affected, the parent/carer will be awarded £3.00 per day plus 45p per mile for journeys within the Liverpool City boundary up to a maximum of 2 return journeys per day subject to attendance at school. Separate arrangements will be made to meet the costs of journeys outside Liverpool. This will be subject to an annual review.
• Accessible minibuses and taxis will be made available for eligible pupils who require this form of transport. 
• The City Council will provide specialist seating and restraints for eligible pupils if required. 
• Travel training to support eligible pupils travel independently to and from school.*

Passenger Assistants are allocated to vehicles where it has been identified that pupils require supervision during the journeys to and from school.  All passenger assistants and drivers working on the Home to School Transport Contract are required to have a satisfactory Disclosure Check at enhanced level. 

Further information on the Home to School Transport Service is available in the Handbook ‘Home to School Transport for Children with Special Educational or Other Needs’. 

Short term transport may be considered where a pupil has a short term medical incapacity which prevents the pupil from either walking to school or using public transport.  Medical evidence must be provided to confirm that the pupil is unable to travel independently and in these cases the provision will not normally be agreed to exceed one school term unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Applications for home to school transport for pupils who may not have special educational needs, but who may be unable to complete the journey to and from school by walking or using public transport through a long term medical incapacity, will be considered as a stage 1 appeal by the Travel Support Review Panel. Parents / Carers will be required to produce medical evidence to support the application. To apply for a referral to the panel, the parent / carer should complete an Appeal Form and submit this to the Principal Officer in the Transport Office. The parent / carer will be notified of the panel's decision in writing and the relevant extract from the minutes of the panel will be included in the letter. Should the parent / carer disagree with the decision, details on how to progress to a stage 2 appeal are contained in "Home to School Transport Appeals Process" in the documents section of this page.

In certain circumstances, pupils and students with special educational needs may be eligible to receive a concessionary travel pass from Merseytravel.  For further information on these passes and to make an application, please contact Merseytravel on 0151 236 6056 or call into your nearest Merseytravel Centre.