Personal travel budgets

• Flexibility to make travel arrangements that best meet their needs and circumstances
• Choice and control over how funding to support your child is spent
• Opportunities to share with other parents/carers and potentially increase buying power
• May support independence for children/young persons

The School Travel Service will assess whether it would be a suitable form of travel based on the parent or carer’s ability to transport their child or young person to and from their school/education setting. A PTB will only be offered where it is a more cost-effective option than a suitable alternative option (unless in exceptional circumstances).

Provision will be reviewed periodically and if a more economical mode of travel becomes available, the parent or carer will be given notice of a change to the mode of travel. For example, eligibility for Independent Travel Training or a place becomes available on a shared transport route.

You can apply for a PTB if your child is eligible for free school travel and attends a special school or unit in Southampton (not Pupil Support Services). However, the council will only agree to provide a PTB if it is a more cost-effective option than a suitable alternative option, or if there are exceptional circumstances that mean that a PTB is a more suitable travel option for a child/young person.

A PTB Agreement will be drawn up between the council and the parent or carer. This specifies the responsibility of the council and parents or carers to ensure their child / young person is able to get to and from school/education setting, the rate and payment details, and how you can end a PTB arrangement.

You can make whatever travel arrangements you like as long as you meet your responsibilities under your PTB Agreement with the council. Your options include:

• Purchasing a travel pass for you and your child or young person and using public transport
• Walking or cycling with your child or young person to school/education setting
• Driving your child or young person to school/education setting using your own vehicle
• Arranging shared travel arrangements with other parents or carers, such as shared driving responsibilities, walking, taking a bus, or joint taxi bookings

Make sure that the arrangements are reliable

It is important that you ensure the arrangements you make for your child’s travel are reliable. You will need to ensure that you can overcome barriers that may prevent you accompanying your child to school, for example, travel/childcare arrangements for siblings.

Your child’s education will suffer if they are regularly late for school and schools do not have the facilities to look after children at the end of the day if you are late arriving to collect them.

The PTB rates in and outside of the city are:

• 55p a mile standard rate
• 75p a mile for a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV)

The distance will be calculated using the council's SoMap system and will be based on the shortest car journey identified. The results from the council system are very similar to those produced using Google maps, so parents/carers can get an estimate of the distance and PTB payment before applying.

PTB payments will be calculated using the return journey for families at the beginning and end of the day.  For example:

• Home to school = 5 miles 
• 5 miles at 55p a mile = £2.75
• 4 journeys per day x £2.75 = £11.00 a day

Tolls will be included in the funding where a route that uses tolls is identified as the quickest journey by car.

PTB rates will be reviewed each year to take account of changing costs and any changes to your child’s travel needs. PTBs do not affect any other benefits you might receive.

Payments will be made by the council into your designated bank account in eleven equal monthly instalments between September and July (or pro rata). You will need to provide us with your bank details when you sign the PTB Agreement.

No, the council will not ask you how you have spent your child’s or young person’s PTB. We want to keep the flexibility and control with you, and we will therefore keep monitoring to a minimum. We will monitor your child’s attendance and check to see that they arrive at school on time and fit to learn.

If you find that you cannot keep up the commitment, you will be able to end your PTB Agreement at the next half term holiday. You will need to give notice of at least four weeks to end your PTB Agreement. This allows sufficient time for alternative travel arrangements to be made by the council.

The council is committed to making PTBs work, so if you find you are having difficulties with your travel arrangements, we may be able to help you by providing advice.

The council could cancel your PTB if:

• Your child’s attendance is unacceptable and/or they are late for school. The council will check that your child’s attendance at school is acceptable (they are meeting the average attendance level of children at their school). It is expected that your child’s attendance and punctuality levels will meet those of the rest of the school population. The council reserves the right to decline applications if there is a risk that a child’s attendance at school could be adversely affected
• You move home and your child is no longer eligible for free school travel
• You have not made safe travel arrangements for your child/young person
• Your child/young person leaves the school/education setting
• The PTB travel option is discontinued
• A more cost-effective option becomes available