Councillors will soon be asked to approve public consultation on proposals for fair and sustainable home to school transport for learners aged 16 and over, helping them develop independence and access education and training.
Durham County Council’s Cabinet will be updated on its Home to School Transport (HTST) transformation programme next week and told of the continued financial pressure that the service places on the authority.
Costs for HTST are increasing nationally and locally, alongside increasing demand for travel support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and higher transport operator costs.
A review by the local authority found that expenditure on post-16 SEND transport increased from £1.663 million in 2020/21 to £4.738m in 2025/26. It also found that the council supported 610 post-16 learners in 2025/26 with a more extensive service than that provided by other local authorities.
Currently, the wider HTST service carries around 11,000 passengers each day through 1,246 contracts and more than 300 suppliers, including eligible learners aged 16 to 25. Without further action, home to school transport cost is expected to reach £50 million by 2029/30.
Established in 2023, the council’s HTST transformation programme is reviewing policy, assessment, commissioning, and travel arrangements. Separately to the new proposals, existing work is targeting £4.9m in savings between 2026/27 and 2029/30.
The authority has developed five new proposals that could deliver further efficiencies, improve assessment and consistency, make better use of travel options, and support independence. The first would introduce a more holistic assessment process for learners starting a new course after their 19th birthday. These changes would deliver around £279,000 of savings across the whole cohort.
The second proposal would see a requirement for parents and carers to accompany students up to the age of 18, instead of the council paying for a chaperone, on their home to college journey, where the distance is less than three miles. This would deliver approximately £9,000 in savings.
Proposal three would see the removal of travel assistance for work placements, delivering around £37,000 in savings, and proposal four would change the priority order of travel assistance that is offered. For example, the local authority would first offer a public bus contract ticket, then a personal travel budget, and finally a seat on a shared council organised transport arrangement. This would deliver around £1.3m in savings.
Finally, proposal five would see the introduction of a travel training scheme for students that are eligible for free assistance with their journeys, which would cost £45,000 to implement.
This proposal would establish a one-year in-house pilot, initially with one travel trainer. Training would be offered only where it is safe and suitable for the learner and would combine individual planning, practical journey training and support young people to develop independent skills to help them with their transition into adulthood.
Cllr Cathy Hunt, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We know how important travel support is for helping young people access education and training, and how much these arrangements matter to families.
“Although we are not statutorily required to provide free or subsidised transport for all post-16 students, what we do provide is more extensive than the approach taken by many other local authorities.
“Our aim is to sustain a fair and inclusive offer that reflects individual needs and helps young people build independence where it is safe and suitable. Rising costs mean we need to consider how we provide that support, but no final decisions have been made.
“A consultation would help us consider the views of young people, parents and carers, education and training providers, and our partners on what these proposals would mean in practice. Their views, alongside updated assessments of the impacts, would inform any final decision.”
The local authority’s Cabinet will be discussing the proposals next week on Wednesday 18 November.
