Appealing against child travel pass decision

backtomum

We've just been refused travel passes for my twin daughters - the reason being that we just live just under the three miles required. Reading down the letter it states that if a pupil receives free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of maximum working tax credit, and live two miles from the school then they would receive a pass.

This ruling seems ludicrous to me - why should the children of working parents - we may not get WTC or free school meals but we çertainly are not well off - in fact struggling could the word I'd use - be penalised. We put the school down as we will be moving into that neighbourhood next year if we can - and I wouldn't want them to have to change schools after such a short time. What do others think - do you think we could use equality as a base to our appeal. Any advice would be much appreciated and does anyone know why children of benefit claiments are only expected to walk two miles and my children would be expected to walk three!!!

Becles

My son didn't get a bus pass either and school is twelve miles away from home.

He's been through the Catholic feeder school since he joined the nursery at 3, so naturally he wanted to move into the Catholic secondary school with his classmates. He's been refused a school bus pass by the LEA because he is not Catholic and neither of his parents are. The LEA deem the nearest suitable school to be one three miles away which he doesn't want to attend as he doesn't know anyone there.

I tried appealing but I didn't get anywhere, so he'll be travelling by public buses by himself next month.

I would understand the decision if he had been in another primary school and I suddenly decided to send him to the Catholic school for personal reasons, but think it's harsh when he's been through the feeder school and made friends and wants to stick with them and the Catholic values he has learned so far.

I did offer to pay for him to travel on the school bus so he could still socialise with his mates, but I was told that isn't an option as it's discrimination against low income families :rolleyes:

backtomum

Becles wrote: »

I did offer to pay for him to travel on the school bus so he could still socialise with his mates, but I was told that isn't an option as it's discrimination against low income families :rolleyes:

It's a crazy situation isn't it. I feel as a working person my child is being discriminated against by being expected to walk three miles and a child of people on benefits is only expected to walk two miles! Don't Council's realise that this is discrimination too.

Paparika

Mine got refused for the bus pass too, we live just under 3 miles, DS school is on top of a steep hill in the middle of the city centre.

I'm on WTC but i struggle being a single mum, i have to pay for his school dinners, bus, school uniform and all school trips, no freebies for me

backtomum

Paparika wrote: »

Mine got refused for the bus pass too, we live just under 3 miles, DS school is on top of a steep hill in the middle of the city centre.

I'm on WTC but i struggle being a single mum, i have to pay for his school dinners, bus, school uniform and all school trips, no freebies for me

I'm sorry if I offended you - I didn't mean my post to sound so nasty. I know it's a terrible struggle for so many people especially at the moment and I admire anyone bringing children up alone:o

Dill

It does seem a bit strange to have two separate criteria like that. I can only think that the council are under some pressure to give more bus passes out to lower income families, and so they make the rules a bit laxer for them It might be worth pressing the council for an answer about that.

Just out of interest, how long would it actually take for your kids to walk to school?

I remember when I was at school we had the 'three-mile' rule, too (regardless of whether or not the parents were on benefits) but we were often convinced that they literally drew a straight line between the child's house and the school, so that yes, geographically it was just within the three mile radius, but the actual walk to school was at least three miles, if not more..

silvercar

The statutory rules are that anyone whose journey is over 3 iles (to the nearest appropriate school) has to be provided with transport. Anything more than that is a concession that your LEA have decided to make. So it sounds like your council has decided to grant the concession to lower earners; a lot of councils do this to prevent children being excluded from the high-achieving schools just because the parents can't afford the cost of transport there. It is meant to stop schools in more expensive housing areas being dominated by those that can afford to live there.

As you are over the statutory limit, I doubt an appeal would be successful on discriminatory grounds. You may hae better luck by examining the route and seeing if it is a safe walking route for children to walk when it is starting to get dark in winter. In my area, some people found the most direct route involved walking along an unpaved road, they won an appeal on the grounds that you couldn't expect 9 year olds to walk safely in the dark without a pavement and the route where the roads had pavements was over 3 miles.

Paparika

backtomum wrote: »

I'm sorry if I offended you - I didn't mean my post to sound so nasty. I know it's a terrible struggle for so many people especially at the moment and I admire anyone bringing children up alone:o

OOo no you weren't and i didn't see your post as nasty, not actually on benefits i work part time, i don't get housing or ct benefits.

So no you didn't offend me at all ((Hugs))

Paparika

The Lea decided that there was a nearer school, which there is, but would mean a walk into town to get the bus to get there, which means he walks away from the school for the bus to take him to school, and it was not a pleasant school.

I feel punished for sending my DS to a decent school, glad i stuck to my guns because he's doing very well.

Although i could drive him to school, but i don't always go his way in the morning, and i do believe he should be independant

backtomum

Thanks for all your replies. I think I am going to follow Silvercar's advice and do the walk. I am also going to play on the fact that the children have to be in school before 8.30 - I think walking nearly 3 miles may take at least an hour - meaning they will have to start the walk around 7.30 - dark in the winter - and unless the children can use crossings - which I dont think the LEA have taken into account when assessing the quickest walking route could be dangerous! Also I do think there is a stretch of road without a pavement - I will check this out.

DaisyFlower

There should be no distinction between benefits and those who work re bus passes.

If you choose to send your child to a school that is further away than local schools out of personal choice then you should be responsible for your own costs regardless of your money status.