Home to School and Social Care
Transport
Executive Summary
Salford City Council
July 2016
REPORT INFORMATION
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Quality Assurance
Author
NT
Team Leader
Director
JT
T HE TAS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED
S PECIALIST C ONSULTANTS IN P UBLIC TRANSPORT
Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
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Contents
Section
Page
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 5
1.1
Background ..........................................................................................................................................................5
1.2
Scope....................................................................................................................................................................5
1.3
Work Completed ..................................................................................................................................................5
1.4
This Document .....................................................................................................................................................6
Policy Issues ........................................................................................................................................ 7
2.1
Home To School Transport ..................................................................................................................................7
2.2
Denominational Transport ..................................................................................................................................7
2.3
Safe Walking Routes ............................................................................................................................................8
2.4
Post-16 Transport ................................................................................................................................................8
2.5
Special Needs .......................................................................................................................................................8
2.6
Adult Services (Social Services)...........................................................................................................................9
2.7
Meals-On-Wheels ................................................................................................................................................9
2.8
Passenger Assistants ............................................................................................................................................9
2.9
Wider Policy Implications .................................................................................................................................10
2.10
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................10
Working With Others / Externalisation ........................................................................................ 12
3.1
Co-Ordination....................................................................................................................................................12
3.2
Alternative Approaches......................................................................................................................................13
3.3
Partnership With The Voluntary Sector .............................................................................................................13
3.4
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................14
Customer Focus ................................................................................................................................ 15
4.1
Consultation.......................................................................................................................................................15
4.2
Guidance To Stakeholders .................................................................................................................................15
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
4.3
Communications ................................................................................................................................................16
4.4
Accessibility .......................................................................................................................................................16
4.5
Vehicle Maintenance Service (Vms) ..................................................................................................................17
4.6
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................17
Quality Standards ............................................................................................................................ 18
5.1
Duty Of Care .....................................................................................................................................................18
5.2
Increased In-House Provision ...........................................................................................................................19
5.3
Monitoring .........................................................................................................................................................20
5.4
Staff Training .....................................................................................................................................................21
5.5
Risk Assessments ................................................................................................................................................22
5.6
Information On Service Users ...........................................................................................................................23
5.7
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................23
Externalise Provision (In-House Fleet) .......................................................................................... 24
6.1
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................24
6.2
Recommendation................................................................................................................................................24
Improving Efficiency ....................................................................................................................... 25
7.1
Improved Route Planning And Vehicle Mix .......................................................................................................25
7.2
Determining Transport Needs And Level Of Provision .....................................................................................26
7.3
Social Services – In-House Operation ...............................................................................................................26
7.4
Social Services – External Provision .................................................................................................................28
7.5
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................28
Financial Issues ................................................................................................................................ 29
8.1
Background ........................................................................................................................................................29
8.2
Budget Setting ....................................................................................................................................................30
8.3
Financial Management And Monitoring ...........................................................................................................31
8.4
Responding To Cost Increases ...........................................................................................................................31
8.5
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................31
Benchmarking .................................................................................................................................. 32
9.1
Making Comparisons .........................................................................................................................................32
9.2
Performance Indicators .....................................................................................................................................33
9.3
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................35
Improving The Management Of The Service ................................................................................ 36
10.1
Clarification Of Responsibilities........................................................................................................................36
10.2
Systems / Processes............................................................................................................................................36
10.3
Performance Management .................................................................................................................................37
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
10.4
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................................................37
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 38
The TAS Partnership Limited
Specialist Consultants in Public Transport
Guildhall House, Guildhall Street
Preston, Lancashire PR1 3NU
Telephone: 01772 204988
Fax: 01772 562070
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
1.
Introduction
1.1
BACKGROUND
1.1.1
Salford City Council has commissioned TAS to assist in carrying out a Best Value
Review of Home to School and Social Care Transport Services in Salford.
1.2
SCOPE
1.2.1
The scope of the review covers all aspects of transport between home and school or
college, together with transport required within various Social Service functions. The
provision and management of passenger assistants is also included within the review.
1.2.2
In accordance with Best Value principles, the review addresses the four C’s, viz:
1.2.3

Compare the performance of the in-house transport operation against other
local authority and commercial transport providers, particularly through the
use of performance indicators.

Challenge the need for the service and identify if the service could be
provided in a different way.

Compete – establish the potential for other providers to deliver the current
service, and identify necessary changes to enable the in-house operation to
compete effectively with those providers. Consider the rôle of partnerships.

Consult with customers, staff, passenger assistants, drivers, voluntary
bodies, transport providers, unions and other local authorities.
In addition, we have considered:

efficiency – particularly in relation to the government improvement target

service procurement and delivery – particularly the issue of the location of
the different functions.
1.3
WORK COMPLETED
1.3.1
A thorough review has been undertaken of current policies, practices and procedures
in relation to the provision of both Education and Social Services transport in
Salford. The review has included a comprehensive consultation with all
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
stakeholders. In addition, a wide range of alternative approaches for the management
and delivery of these services have been identified and analysed. The following Task
Notes have been produced as part of the review:

Task Note 2 – Current Education Transport Arrangements

Task Note 3 – Current Social Services Transport Arrangements

Task Note 4 – Options for Change

Task Note 5 – 4Cs Analysis

Task Note 6 – Review of Transport to Newcroft High School
1.4
THIS DOCUMENT
1.4.1
The main purpose of this Report is to provide a structured set of recommendations,
for each of the topic areas in the project. In carrying out this review and investigating
the alternative approaches available, an assessment has been made of the current
arrangements operating in Salford detailed in Task Notes 2 and 3. The different
categories, and elements within each, are:
1.4.2

policy issues

working with others / externalisation

customer focus

quality standards

externalise provision (in-house fleet)

improving efficiency

financial issues

benchmarking

improving management of the service

conclusions
Each section concludes with a summary of recommendations.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
2.
Policy Issues
2.1
HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT
2.1.1
Transport to school is provided in accordance with the statutory provisions of
Sections 444 (4) and 509 (1) and (2) of the Education Act 1996. Pupils who are aged
under 8 and of statutory school age are provided with transport where they attend the
nearest available school and live more than 2 miles from that school. For pupils aged
8 and over at the start of the academic year, the relevant distance is defined as 3
miles.
2.1.2
The Council has powers to determine its policy in relation to the provision of free or
assisted home to school transport for pupils who do not meet the statutory
requirements.
2.1.3
In Salford, the general transport policy meets the minimum statutory requirement.
2.2
DENOMINATIONAL TRANSPORT
2.2.1
The authority is legally required to give consideration to any parental wish for their
child to be provided with education or training at a school, institution or other
establishment in which the religious education provided is that of the religion or
denomination to which the parent adheres.
2.2.2
There is no specific legal requirement to provide denominational transport, and
consequently there are examples of many different policies throughout the country.
In Salford, transport is normally provided, for religious reasons, pupils who meet the
above distance criteria, and who:
2.2.3

attend a denominational primary school

attend a denominational secondary school, having attended a denominational
primary school
Consideration could be given to amending the current policy. Options include:

only providing transport in accordance with the general policy; i.e. only if the
denominational school is the nearest school and walking distance exceeds the
specified distance

introducing a maximum journey time; e.g. 45 minutes for primary children
and 1 hour for secondary aged pupils
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

introduce a maximum contribution to the cost of transport, e.g. offer
assistance up to a specified maximum amount
2.2.4
Any change is only likely to have a marginal impact on current costs and may not,
therefore, be considered a priority.
2.3
SAFE WALKING ROUTES
2.3.1
In assessing a request for transport the Council has to determine whether a child,
accompanied by an adult as necessary, can walk the route in reasonable safety.
2.3.2
Although the issue of safe walking routes is said not to be an issue in Salford,
walking routes may have to be assessed in the future. The Council may, therefore,
wish to adopt the “Guidelines for the identification of road safety hazards and the
assessment of risk of walked routes to schools” produced by the Local Authority
Road Safety Officers’ Association, in order that the approach should be consistent.
This meets good practice.
2.4
POST-16 TRANSPORT
2.4.1
There is no specific duty placed on LEAs to provide free transport for students above
compulsory school age.
2.4.2
The Education Act 2002 gives LEAs a co-ordinating rôle in developing policies with
key partners to provide effective and efficient transport arrangements for post-16
students. The Act requires every LEA to publish a policy statement setting out the
provision of, or support for, transport for students aged 16 to 19. Provision is made
for the Secretary of State to direct an LEA to make arrangements for transport that
are not in the statement.
2.4.3
The latest guidance to LEAs is contained in DfES Circular LEA/0508/2002 which
relates to transport arrangements for 2003/4 and states the provisions of Schedule 19
of the Education Act. This commenced from 20 January 2003 and gives LEAs
responsibility for preparing and publishing transport policy statements, following
consultation with their partners, by 31 May each year. There is a formal presumption
in the guidance that no partner will reduce their transport provision from current
levels.
2.4.4
We recommend that the Council, in conjunction with the local colleges and other
partners, including the Learning and Skills Council, review their existing policy and
its impact on continuing education.
2.5
SPECIAL NEEDS
2.5.1
There is no legislation dealing specifically with school transport for pupils with
special educational needs. Guidance from the Audit Commission is that decisions to
provide free transport for children of statutory school age should follow the SEN
Code of Practice (DfEE, 2000).
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2.5.2
They further advise that decisions on transport entitlement should be made as part of
the statutory assessment process and be re-examined regularly as part of the annual
review process. A statement of special educational needs should not automatically
mean entitlement to free transport.
2.5.3
Cabinet last reviewed Salford’s policy in September 2000. In Task Note 4 we
recommend that the City Council need to consider whether existing eligibility
criteria are sufficiently objective. We understand that the policy is currently being
reviewed.
2.6
ADULT SERVICES (SOCIAL SERVICES)
2.6.1
The duty on Social Service authorities relating to provision of transport for clients is
far less specific than in the case of Education transport, and is generally contingent
on their duties to provide other facilities and services. These are detailed in Task
Note 3.
2.6.2
Social Services transport plays an invaluable rôle in assisting service users to avoid
social isolation and exclusion. Indeed, without accessible transport many vulnerable
adults would remain at home, isolated from wider society. Such circumstances may
place additional demands on carers, and increase the need for costly residential care.
2.6.3
There are currently no specific criteria relating to the provision of transport. In Task
Note 4 we recommend that the City Council should review whether criteria should
be established to ensure that transport services go to those service users most in need
and that consideration be given to introducing a charge for transport.
2.6.4
We understand that the policy is currently being reviewed.
2.6.5
It would be also be helpful for staff interpreting the eligibility criteria if a hierarchy
of transport provision was set out, see section 7.2
2.7
MEALS-ON-WHEELS
2.7.1
Eligibility for meals-on-wheels is based on the eligibility criteria for Social Services
Funded Day Care, and this service is available to the high / medium dependency
groups. The transport and administration cost of the meals-on-wheels service is
completely subsidised by the City Council. The City Council could consider
including either all (equivalent to £2.45 a day) or part of the cost of meal delivery in
the unit cost charged.
2.7.2
It should be noted that Social Services have recently introduced a qualification
criteria for the delivery of meals and all existing service users are to be reviewed.
2.8
PASSENGER ASSISTANTS
2.8.1
Salford currently spends almost £500,000 a year on supervision on home to school
transport. The Special Needs team undertakes an assessment of the transport needs
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
of each pupil and each case is considered separately on its merit. However, in the
absence of any specific criteria judgements will ultimately be subjective.
2.8.2
In addition, a further £250,000 a year is spent on supervision on social services
transport. Again, there are no specific eligibility criteria; supervision is routinely
provided on all in-house mainstream day care transport.
2.8.3
A further issue is that passenger assistants (escorts) employed by the Education and
Leisure Services Directorate have different terms and conditions of contract from
those employed by the Community and Social Services Directorate.
2.8.4
Options for consideration include:

standardising the conditions of employment

developing more objective criteria for the provision of supervision

employing LEA passenger assistants on fixed term contracts, i.e. for the
duration of the contract, to allow greater flexibility when undertaking
rescheduling exercises

switching to operator-employed passenger assistants on home to school
transport, and thus including the cost of supervision in the contract price.
This could provide greater flexibility and may achieve savings, but could
have quality implications.
2.8.5
Furthermore, greater flexibility for in-house Social Service’s operation could be
provided by creating some form of multi-skilling to allow for driver / assistants. The
primary reason is to provide cover in the in-house service for driver sickness and
short notice emergencies. However, it is recognised that not all passenger assistants
may be interested in or capable of becoming drivers and, in any case, some of the
Social Services passenger assistants may also work as care assistants within
establishments. To implement this effectively would require some flexibility from
Social Services establishments, but this should be repaid by improved transport
reliability.
2.9
WIDER POLICY IMPLICATIONS
2.9.1
Changes in policy, e.g. school / day centre re-organisation, social inclusion etc., can
have significant cost implications for the school / social services transport budget(s)
and therefore it is important that all reports on such issues explore the implications
for the transport budget.
2.10
RECOMMENDATIONS
2.10.1
We recommend that:

eligibility criteria in respect of SEN transport and adult services be reviewed
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

that the Council, in conjunction with the local colleges and other partners,
including the Learning & Skills Council (LSC), reviews the existing policy
on post 16 transport and its impact on continuing education.

the Council adopts the “Guidelines for the identification of road safety
hazards and the assessment of risk of walked routes to schools” produced by
the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association

eligibility criteria for the provision of passenger assistants (Education and
Social Services) be reviewed

consideration be given to introducing a charge for adult services transport
and meals-on-wheels deliveries

the conditions of employment of all passenger assistants be standardised

arrangements are put in place to:

ensure that all Council reports consider the possible implications and
costs for transport services and that budgets are adjusted to reflect the
resulting savings / additional cost

provide members with clear financial information on the cost of
transporting different categories of service users. This should cover
both statutory and discretionary provision, together with comparable
data from other authorities.
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3.
Working With Others /
Externalisation
3.1
CO-ORDINATION
3.1.1
The 1985 Transport Act places a legal duty on local authorities to achieve value for
money in purchasing its passenger transport services. The letting and managing of
passenger transport services involves specialist skills. A number of authorities have
created council-wide transport units to manage all transport functions. Such central
co-ordination can offer economies of scale, and make more effective use of technical
skills and resources.
3.1.2
It also ensures that different parts of the organisation are not competing against one
another in the market, and so driving up costs. In addition, it allows authorities to
identify opportunities to share resources across different services, e.g. education and
social services, and offer packages of work that cover several services. This ensures
that the benefits of such sharing are captured by the authority, rather than by its
contractors.
3.1.3
Co-ordination can also be extended to operational integration, to allow the same
vehicles to be used for several types of work, e.g. schools and day centres. This can,
however, depend on aligning opening and closing times, which may be problematic.
3.1.4
In Salford, there has only been very limited formal co-ordination with Social
Services tendering for home to school contracts and operating those contracts
awarded by Education..
3.1.5
Recently, however, there has been an increasing amount of informal co-operation by
officers from Education and Social services to share good practice and identify areas
for improvement. These arrangements need to be formalised.
3.1.6
The Best Value Review Team has considered a range of different types of coordination that Salford might consider, including:

the establishment of a single Transport Unit to manage all the authority’s
passenger transport requirements, i.e. education and social services

central procurement

joint tendering
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3.1.7

policy harmonisation, e.g. quality standards

vehicle and driver sharing

passenger mixing, i.e. different categories of pupils and different client
groups

developing opportunities for linking with the voluntary sector.
Cabinet considered a detailed report on co-ordination options on 24 September 2002
and accepted the recommendation that:
a single Passenger Transport Unit in Salford be approved in principle, and that a
further detailed report be prepared for consideration in February 2003.
3.2
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES
3.2.1
A number of alternative approaches were also considered and reported on in Task
Note 4, these included:

an inter-agency passenger transport unit

contracting functions to another local authority

outsourcing / externalisation
3.2.2
It was agreed by the Review Team and endorsed by Scrutiny that none of these
options was appropriate at the present time.
3.3
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR
3.3.1
There are many examples of local authorities which enjoy a mutually beneficial
relationship with community transport organisations in their area. Traditional
examples include Hampshire and Cheshire County Councils, where communitybased organisations operate many of the demand-responsive, dial-a-ride, services for
disabled people. In Cheshire’s case, the local authority makes pragmatic use of the
potential available – in some locations, the community transport group undertakes all
functions of membership, booking, scheduling and operation, whilst in others the
community group handles the membership, bookings and scheduling, whilst the
operation is undertaken by a commercial operator.
3.3.2
This is not the only model, however. Many authorities benefit from community
transport groups undertaking contract work for them. This covers:

special education

social services work

unconventional public bus services
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

conventional bus services.
3.3.3
Many of the distinctions between voluntary sector and commercial operators have
been removed. It is increasingly common for community transport organisations to
hold PSV Operators’ licences. Recent changes mean that they can access fuel duty
rebate (now Bus Service Operators Grant) for most of their services. A number now
receive reimbursement through concessionary fares arrangements. Specific
consideration needs to be given to community transport development in the Local
Transport Plan.
3.3.4
Where there is an active community transport sector, the potential exists for some
form of partnership between the authority and a community-based operator or
operators whereby, as a consortium, they become responsible for delivering a greater
share of special needs transport. At a basic level, this could involve some form of
‘concordat’ or partnership agreement that spelt out in general terms the intentions of
the various parties with respect to procurement, investment and service development.
3.3.5
Beyond this sort of agreement, a more formal Public-Private Partnership could
equally well be established with a voluntary sector operator as with a commercial
one. However, one of the intentions of such agreements is to stimulate investment
into an area where the authority cannot afford to do so itself. In this respect, a
voluntary sector operator would need the certainty of a long contract period, to
enable it to borrow money on the open market, just as much as a conventional
commercial operator would.
3.3.6
Nevertheless, there may be particular benefits in the relationship, quite apart from
the added social value that could be expected to accrue in Salford from a wellresourced community transport project. Community transport operations can obtain
finance and other resources in ways in which neither the local authority nor
commercial sector can do.
3.3.7
It was agreed at the outset of this Review that greater links with the voluntary sector
fell outside the remit of the Review. However, it is clearly worthy of further
consideration by the City Council in the future.
3.4
RECOMMENDATIONS
3.4.1
We recommend that a centralised Passenger Transport Unit be established.
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4.
Customer Focus
4.1
CONSULTATION
4.1.1
Consultation is a key part of the Best Value process and also has an integral part to
play in assessing and improving performance. Regular consultation should be
undertaken with all stakeholders in providing the service, e.g. parents/carers, service
users, schools, day centres, social workers, passenger assistants, operators, drivers
and authority staff involved in the provision of passenger transport services.
4.1.2
In addition it should be recognised that front line staff, e.g. drivers and passenger
assistants, can give an important perspective on how the service is valued and how it
can be improved.
4.1.3
We recommend that a consultation plan be agreed that provides for regular
consultation with all stakeholders in the provision of home to school and social
services transport. It should include a mix of: questionnaires / surveys, focus groups,
face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews. The consultation plan should also
provide for consultation between directorates.
4.1.4
Administrative practices should also be reviewed to integrate consultation into the
general process.
4.2
GUIDANCE TO STAKEHOLDERS
4.2.1
Clear written guidance should be given to all service users to inform them about the
aims of the service, eligibility criteria, and how, where and when to apply for
transport. In addition, the Council can assist all stakeholders in the service by
providing a series of guidelines to each of the stakeholders providing clear
information on the rôle and responsibilities of each player. The information should
be available in a range of formats and accessible to disabled parents and service
users.
4.2.2
Information provided can include:

parental rôle in ensuring children are ready to leave at pick-up time

parental rôle in ensuring appropriate arrangements in place to receive
children after school

expectations regarding children’s behaviour
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

rôle of carer / service user

rôle of the driver / passenger assistant

rôle of the school or day centre

how establishments, passenger assistants and drivers should respond to
challenging behaviour

action to be taken in the event of an emergency

required service standards

contact names, telephone numbers and complaints procedure.
4.2.3
In Task Note 4 we recommend that a review be undertaken of all information
currently provided for stakeholders, and new guidance issued in appropriate formats.
We understand that this review is taking place and new guidelines produced
4.3
COMMUNICATIONS
4.3.1
To improve performance, we would suggest that telephone / communication
response targets should be set. Performance should then be monitored against the
targets set. The sort of targets that we have in mind relate to perceived quality
aspects of customer service, and relate both to internal and external “customers”.
The precise targets would depend upon the technical feasibility of measurement and
recording, but other agencies, for example, measure:

the length of time taken to answer telephone calls

the time taken to acknowledge correspondence

the time taken to turn round standard administrative actions such as licence
issue.
4.3.2
Regular reports on performance should be provided for senior management.
4.4
ACCESSIBILITY
4.4.1
The Government requires that the public are able to deal quickly and transparently
with administrative processes. Consideration needs to be given to how accessible the
various appropriate management / administrative staff are to stakeholders, in
particular the public.
4.4.2
Future consultation with stakeholders will enable the service to develop in line with
customer need and targets set by the Government for E.Gov.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
4.5
VEHICLE MAINTENANCE SERVICE (VMS)
4.5.1
VMS has been working to develop its customer focus and is positioning itself for
best value review by applying best value principles. Action taken includes:

developing a Service Level Agreement document that will supersede the
current system based around the previous CCT contract

issuing users with a service guide

regular user group meetings and customer surveys used to seek the views of
service users on service delivery and provision.
4.6
RECOMMENDATIONS
4.6.1
We recommend that:

a service consultation plan be agreed

a comprehensive set of information leaflets for service users be introduced

communication targets be set and performance monitored

VMS continues to become more customer focused.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
5.
Quality Standards
5.1
DUTY OF CARE
5.1.1
Salford has a duty of care towards the children and adults in its charge. Furthermore,
it is now generally accepted that it has a heightened duty of care for children with
special needs and adult service users, on the grounds of their vulnerability and / or
their lessened capacity to look after themselves.
5.1.2
As technical capabilities and knowledge improve, authorities will be expected to
apply ever-higher standards in ensuring the safety, comfort and well-being of the
passengers for whom they are responsible, based on received best practice.
5.1.3
Consideration should be given to defining quality standards that properly reflect the
authority’s duty of care, and providing sufficient resources to ensure that these
standards are enforced. This may result in additional costs, particularly with regard
to more specialised vehicles, as operators pass on the cost of investing in newer
vehicles.
5.1.4
Furthermore, the research reported in Task Note 6 identified a shortage of vehicles
for hire, particularly minibuses equipped with passenger lifts. We recommend,
therefore, that the Council consider ways in which they may assist operators in
investing in newer vehicles and also stimulate the supply side of the market. Options
that could be considered include:

Longer-term contracts
The provision of a higher standard of vehicle by a private contractor requires a
sizeable investment. A longer-term contract, e.g. 3, or 5 years for more specialised
vehicles, provides a greater guarantee of income to the operator, and could help to
improve quality standards, stabilise costs and stimulate the market. This is a
particularly important issue for any operator considering purchasing a new
accessible vehicle as the price differential between non-accessible and accessible
vehicles is very significant at present.

Quality partnerships
A number of authorities are currently in the process of entering into quality
partnerships with private contractors, whereby detailed quality standards are
established (in terms of vehicles, maintenance, driver training, etc.) in return for a
contract similar in length to a vehicle lease agreement. This allows the authority to
gain the equivalent benefits of an in-house fleet without taking on the operating costs
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
and duties. There are, however, potential dangers in entering into such long-term
contracts.
This is potentially a route that Salford could take in respect of its specialist transport
requirements. This would, however, require more detailed consideration of the local
circumstances and discussions with operators to determine their likely response to
such an initiative.

Resource tendering
The Council may tender for a vehicle and driver for a specific period of time over a
specified number of days per year (e.g. 07.30hrs – 17.00hrs school days only). The
vehicle / driver resources are then at the authority’s disposal for the specified time,
to be deployed on daily workings involving home to school and / or social services
transport as required, to optimise use of the resource. It is then up to the Council to
package the operations together to ensure good productivity, rather than up to the
operator. Thus there is a manageable transfer of risk away from the operator.

Operation only contracts
This occurs when the Council acquires a vehicle or vehicles and makes them
available to the successful bidder to operate on the specific contract. The operator
may pay an agreed amount to the Council to use them on other work, although in our
experience, the terms that councils offer for this are not attractive to operators. The
approach is particularly useful when a Council wants a particular type of, or size of,
vehicle to be operated. Some of the first introductions of low floor minibuses were
undertaken in this way. There are examples where this approach has been used with
operators of small vehicles in order to increase the number of high quality
wheelchair accessible vehicles available in the area.
5.2
INCREASED IN-HOUSE PROVISION
5.2.1
The authority could also consider expanding its in-house fleet, to better meet the
needs of its service users. It is clear from the research undertaken during the study,
and reported in Task Note 6, that the commercial market for specialist vehicles in the
Salford area is relatively weak. Consequently, there is little competition for Council
passenger transport contracts and it seems unlikely that there will be any significant
new operators coming into the Salford transport market in the future. Contract prices
are, therefore, likely to continue to increase faster than the rate of inflation for some
time to come. Indeed, this is a national phenomenon and many local authorities have
to make hard decisions in order to maintain expenditure within their transport
budgets.
5.2.2
Not only does this introduce an additional ‘competitor’ into the market for transport
contracts, but it may provide a further opportunity for the Council to:

protect itself against the possibility of price collusion among bidders

directly manage service quality standards, rather than rely on external
operators meeting (or not) the contract requirements. (This is important,
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
given that external contractors create a proportionately high number of
service quality complaints.)
5.2.3

provide greater continuity of drivers and passenger assistants on contracts for
children with special needs, which is an important quality measure for users
and carers

remind contractors that the Council has competitive capacity, thereby
influencing them to submit more competitive tender prices.
However, whilst the Council already operates its own vehicles and employs drivers
and , therefore, a structure already exists, any expansion to the in-house operation
would present major problems, including:

staff skill shortages

the need for additional building work
5.2.4
There is no point in undertaking a significant expansion of the in-house operation
unless it can be demonstrated to be cost effective with improved service quality.
The success of such an operation may well depend on the extent to which additional
work can be packaged with the core work so that, for example, this is not a peak
hours / days operation i.e. at worst, 0800-0930 and 1500-1630 on 190 days per year.
5.2.5
Whilst there are some examples of in-house small vehicle operation, most of the
recent successful in-house expansion has arisen from larger vehicle operation,
particularly in the field of school buses. There is a very significant amount of selfexploitation in the small vehicle private hire market leading to employment terms
and conditions considerably below those that the council would consider for its own
employees.
5.2.6
There are some examples of joint passenger / meals delivery / courier service
operation using small vehicles i.e. generating additional work, but the potential for
this in Salford does not appear to be significant. Other viability approaches include
part-time employment and annualised hours, to eliminate any unnecessary labour,
which is by far the most significant cost component.
5.2.7
The rationale for extending the in-house service will depend either on quality
considerations, or on a comparison between the projected cost of the in-house
service with the current or foreseeable cost of contracted provision of those services.
In making the cost comparison it is reasonable to assume that transport costs will
continue to increase through inflationary pressures. Most lease agreements are
negotiated at a fixed cost and, in such cases, any costing model should take account
of future values.
5.3
MONITORING
5.3.1
Having considered the quality standards it wishes to set, The City Council should
then amend its conditions of contract to reflect the new standards. Qualified staff
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
will need to ensure that ALL requirements are being met. Regular monitoring should
be carried out to ensure that:

performance meets the standards stipulated by the authority

vehicles are safe, and meet legal requirements and specified quality standards

all associated equipment is safe, meets specified standards and is being
correctly operated.
5.3.2
Regular reports should then be provided to senior management summarising the
results of the monitoring carried out, and the action taken in cases of poor
performance. Performance should also be compared against that of other similar
authorities.
5.3.3
Some of the requirements in respect of seat belts, wheelchair and occupant restraints
are complex and would require someone with appropriate training and experience to
be available for on-site checking.
5.4
STAFF TRAINING
5.4.1
Passenger assistants and drivers can bear great responsibilities, particularly when
transporting vulnerable children and adults, many with special needs and / or severe
medical conditions. In order to feel confident that it is fulfilling its duty of care, the
City Council should provide appropriate training for both passenger assistants and
drivers.
5.4.2
All in-house drivers have received some form of training. Training is organised
through the Directorate’s training unit and is provided by both in-house and external
trainers. However, the total training budget for care services, which also includes
home care and centre staff, is only £2,000 per annum. The annual training budget for
the transport service can be spent on a single day’s fire evacuation training, which
costs in the region of £600. There is also access to some centrally held budget
provision to support some training provision, e.g. moving and handling. However, it
is acknowledged that there is a considerable shortfall between identified training
needs and the ability to deliver.
5.4.3
The authority needs to review its existing training programme and compare it with
other schemes, such as the nationally-accredited MiDAS and PATS training
schemes, identify possible areas of weakness and provide an appropriate budget for a
suitable training programme to be initiated.
5.4.4
Consideration should also be given to developing a programme to train external
drivers who operate transport on behalf of the Council, such as voluntary car drivers
and taxi drivers, in issues such as disability awareness, safe carriage of wheelchair
passengers and customer care.
5.4.5
The Council also needs to review its arrangements for training provided for
passenger assistants. Although passenger assistants on the in-house fleet receive
training, the review identified a lack of training for education passenger assistants.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
5.4.6
We recommend that the City Council consider the following options:

Community Transport Association MiDAS minibus drivers’ training scheme,

Community Transport Association PATS training scheme for passenger
assistants

extend the in-house training scheme to education and private contractor staff

purchase driver/passenger assistant training from another local authority.
5.5
RISK ASSESSMENTS
5.5.1
We recommend that formal arrangements are reviewed to ensure that all SEN pupils
are formally assessed for their transport needs prior to receiving assistance with
transport, and at regular intervals, e.g. annually, thereafter. Given the Authority’s
duty of care we recommend that a written policy on this, including an agreement on
the extent of and form of information required, be introduced as soon as possible.
5.5.2
With regard to Social Services, we understand that a transport risk assessment is
undertaken in respect of every service user travelling on the in-house fleet. However,
there are no such arrangements for service users travelling on external transport.
5.5.3
We recommend that a transport needs assessment and, where transport is to be
provided, a risk assessment be undertaken for all service users. The assessments
should be repeated at least every 2 years and in the event of a change in the service
user's care programme. Risk assessments should include checks on:

appropriate type of vehicles

correct securing of wheelchairs and occupants

assistance to service users, including physical assistance

arrangements for boarding and alighting and parking.
5.5.4
This should apply regardless of whether the service user is travelling on in-house
transport or that provided by an external contractor. Indeed, without doing the
assessment it is difficult to see how the Council can adequately choose which sort of
vehicle and equipment is appropriate for an individual service user, and therefore to
be specified in the contract with an external provider.
5.5.5
It will be critical to this being implemented effectively that external contractors have
an adequate understanding of the purpose of the risk assessments and the
information contained therein and have staff that can implement the
recommendations.
5.5.6
Although it might be tempting to ask for contractors to produce their written health
& safety policies and their own risk assessments, our experience is that there is often
a significant gap between what such policies say, and what actually happens.
Furthermore, reading and assessing such documentation would be a significant
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
administrative burden on staff, and would very probably lead to a significant level of
double-checking. Thus, such an approach would not be justified by the results.
5.6
INFORMATION ON SERVICE USERS
5.6.1
Concerns have been raised in Salford about the lack of information available to
passenger assistants on the specific needs of the pupils / adults with whom they are
travelling. Training provided in-house encourages passenger assistants to try and
collect such information direct from the service user, and not from the Council, on
the grounds of confidentiality and data protection.
5.6.2
The refusal to provide necessary information to passenger assistants is clearly
perceived to downgrade their rôle and status. It seems incompatible with the desire
to improve the quality and level of support that they provide.
5.6.3
We recommend that the City Council review existing arrangements and legal
constraints to determine how best to address this issue.
5.7
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.7.1
We recommend that the City Council:

explore the potential benefits of:

longer contracts

quality partnerships

resource tendering

operation-only contracts

increased in-house operation

define quality standards and instigate standard monitoring and reporting of
actual service delivery

review training arrangements for drivers, passenger assistants and external
drivers

formalise a corporate transport risk assessment process and extend this to all
service users

review the arrangements for providing appropriate information to drivers /
passenger assistants
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
6.
Externalise Provision
(In-House Fleet)
6.1
INTRODUCTION
6.1.1
This option is included to allow examination of the impacts of ceasing own-fleet
operation by Salford. It reflects the approach taken by many authorities of varying
size, but requires adequate capacity to be available among commercial suppliers
(supplemented as appropriate by the voluntary sector) to meet all of the council’s
requirements in a timely, cost-effective fashion and to a high quality standard.
6.1.2
One particular effect of removing in-house operation would be to obviate the need
for fleet replacement. However, this should not be treated as a decisive factor for
externalisation – the overall effects on the standards and costs of the authority’s
transport must be the yardstick.
6.1.3
There are already difficulties for the City Council in maintaining a competitive
market for its passenger transport requirements, reflected in high tender prices and
low levels of competition.
6.1.4
Given the current market conditions in the Salford area, it is highly unlikely that the
existing commercial sector would be able to absorb cost-effectively the work
presently undertaken in-house.
6.2
RECOMMENDATION
6.2.1
In view of the current market situation, this is not an approach we recommend.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
7.
Improving Efficiency
7.1
IMPROVED ROUTE PLANNING AND VEHICLE MIX
7.1.1
Because of the nature of special needs transport, with the majority of pupils having
home pick ups and the relatively high turnover in pupils, an efficient network of
routes can soon become less efficient as pupils leave and new pupils start. The
simplest solution is often to provide additional taxis to undertake new journeys,
rather than re-schedule existing vehicles. This inevitably incurs additional costs and
reduces passenger loadings on other contract vehicles. Furthermore, contractors will
readily request increased contract prices if the total mileage increases; however, in
circumstances where their mileage reduces, reductions in contract price are not as
readily negotiated.
7.1.2
Further difficulties can arise if the special needs team in Education works to a
different timetable to the school transport team, as school placements may still have
to be finalised when the transport arrangements are being confirmed. This can result
in additional transport having to be provided that could be avoided by better
management of the process.
7.1.3
Regular clean sheet reviews of transport provision need to be carried out to ensure
the most efficient and cost effective route planning is achieved. Improving the
balance between minibuses and taxis in the scheduling process can also achieve
significant savings. In addition, resources need to be made available to allow
ongoing reviews to ensure that routes remain efficient.
7.1.4
To optimise resources and to reduce the potential impact on the supply side market,
the City Council may wish to consider carrying out area reviews on a staggered
basis.
7.1.5
Sufficient resources need to be made available to ensure that officers have both the
time and tools to carry out regular local reviews and a full comprehensive
rescheduling exercise as required. Computer assisted scheduling systems,
geographical information systems (GIS) and other IT tools can assist in improved
route scheduling. Investment in proper resources to schedule routes can deliver
major savings in the overall cost of the service.
7.1.6
In addition, the transport organiser should regularly review the transport needs of the
service users and the transport provision being made to ensure that it is both cost
effective and efficient.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
7.2
DETERMINING TRANSPORT NEEDS AND LEVEL OF
PROVISION
7.2.1
In assessing transport need, a formal hierarchy of the most cost effective transport is
a useful tool. This should be based on the unit cost of different modes of transport in
Salford, e.g. in most cases the unit cost of travel by minibus is less than by taxi.
7.2.2
Alternative forms of transport, such as a mileage allowance, can be more cost
effective than contracted taxi transport where a pupil / service user travels alone. It
seems likely that a more flexible approach to mileage allowances could provide
savings. At present, parents are only offered a mileage allowance at the minimum
local authority “casual users” rate. In view of the high cost of taxi transport,
consideration could be given to adopting a more flexible approach to parental
transport provision and perhaps the arrangements could be more pre-disposed
towards encouraging this mode of transport as an alternative to taxi provision.
7.2.3
Also, there does not appear to be a consistent approach in terms of travel training.
Travel training in the use of public transport can enable some pupils and students
with special needs to develop and maintain a degree of independence, and so reduce
their need for dedicated transport. This also helps to reduce reliance on assistance
from Social Services for those pupils who may have to attend day centres when they
leave school. Mobility officers are already employed by Social Services to assist
adult service users and the opportunity for them to provide appropriate training to
pupils is currently being explored.
7.3
SOCIAL SERVICES – IN-HOUSE OPERATION
7.3.1
It is Council policy that the maintenance of all vehicles should be carried out by
Vehicle Maintenance Services; the service does not currently have the opportunity to
use external contractors. However, the authority has recently entered into lease
agreements for a number of street cleansing vehicles that include a maintenance
package by the provider within the agreement.
7.3.2
There has been no market testing of any of the services provided to identify whether
or not the private sector has the capacity to deliver either part or all of the services
provided in-house, neither have the costs of the in-house service been compared with
costs in the private sector.
7.3.3
A number of options for change are detailed in Task Note 4 for consideration. We
recommend that:

the feasibility of replacing existing meals-on-wheels vans with MPVs, which
could then be used for school and / or day centre work, be investigated

both the in-house service and the service provided by VMS be market tested

the benefits of including maintenance packages in all future lease agreements
be further explored
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

7.3.4
the potential for better use of existing resources by means of co-operation
with one or more of the following be explored:

Salford Community Transport

Ring and Ride

neighbouring local authorities

other community transport groups.
It is also recommended in Task Note 4 that:
the possibility of changing school or day centre times to allow vehicles to operate
both education and social services journeys, including either all or some of the
service users currently carried by private taxis, be explored further
7.3.5
This is not seen as practical proposition at the present time as individual school
governing bodies are responsible for setting school opening and closing times and
changes in day centre times needed to make this viable are not possible. However,
re-arrangements in day centre activities planned for the future may make it feasible.
Drivers / Passenger Assistants
7.3.6
The payment of average overtime can mean that a member of staff who is off sick is
financially better off remaining absent than they would be if they returned to work
within a week. This may partly explain the relatively high rate of absenteeism, which
continues to be a problem (see Task Note 4 for more detail)
7.3.7
The conditions of contract are due to be reviewed in the next 18 months as part of
the authority’s job evaluation scheme. However, it is essential that this issue is given
a high priority and needs to be addressed immediately.
7.3.8
A result of this high level of absence is that the manager of the in-house service
regularly has to provide driving cover. In the event of severe absenteeism a vehicle
has to be removed from operation and service users allocated to different routes.
Consequences of this are:

improper use of a Principal Officer’s time

potentially longer journey times for some service users which can result in a
reduction in time the service user has at the day centre.
7.3.9
The ability to re-schedule vehicles indicates a flexible approach to addressing the
problem by, for example, using capacity arising from the daily fluctuation in
passenger demand. It may, however, also indicate that vehicle occupancy rates are
not being maximised.
7.3.10
The City Council need to give urgent consideration to both the issue of high
absenteeism amongst staff and more cost effective ways of providing staff cover.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
7.4
SOCIAL SERVICES – EXTERNAL PROVISION
7.4.1
The review has found that existing procedures could be improved and require urgent
review. The review should include consideration of the feasibility of applying the
practices used in the Education Directorate.
7.4.2
Currently, individual social workers / centre managers procure transport direct from
an operator listed in the Schedule of Tendered Taxi Operators. There would appear
to be no verification of the charge made by the operator (based on an agreed rate per
mile) nor any attempt made to determine whether there is existing transport
operating in the area that could accommodate the new service user.
7.4.3
The City Council should establish a central transport procurement process for taxi
provision based at the proposed Passenger Transport Unit.
7.5
RECOMMENDATIONS
7.5.1
We recommend:

reviewing route planning and vehicle occupancy rates

establishment of a formal hierarchy of transport, including a review of the
potential cost benefits of increasing parental mileage allowances

improved travel training arrangements

improved budget reporting arrangements

investigation of the feasibility of replacing existing meals-on-wheels vans
with MPVs, which could then be used for school and / or day centre work

market testing of both the in-house service and that provided by VMS, and
further exploration of the benefits of including maintenance packages in all
future lease agreements

investigation of the potential for better use of existing resources by means of
co-operation with one or more of the following:

Salford Community Transport

Ring and Ride

neighbouring local authorities

other community transport groups

reviewing contract conditions for in-house drivers and passenger assistants

reviewing sickness cover arrangements

reviewing arrangements for procuring external transport for Social Services
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
8.
Financial Issues
8.1
BACKGROUND
8.1.1
Passenger transport, particularly home to school transport, is a demand-led service,
and in the vast majority of cases there is a statutory duty on the local authority to
provide transport.
8.1.2
The cost of home to school transport has increased nationally above inflation rates
for the last few years. The Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (ATCO)
reported, in November 2000, that recently re-tendered school bus contracts were
11.1% higher than the contracts they replaced. In addition, the number of children
with special educational needs has increased by almost 70% in the last 10 years.
8.1.3
The available information on budgets, costs and outcomes in Salford will be
circulated on the day.
8.1.4
Reasons for the increases in cost identified by the Audit Commission1 include:
8.1.5

assistance to and physical handling of passengers by passenger assistants /
drivers increases transport costs, especially driver costs

extension of employment rights to part-time staff

above inflation increases in fuel, insurance and other vehicle costs

the policy of inclusion means that children are now taken to more locations

a move towards smaller vehicles because of traffic / access difficulties

changes to vehicle specifications as a result of seat belt legislation and
regulations / guidance on how to secure wheelchairs and restrain their
occupants. The latter has also tended to reduce the number of wheelchair
users carried within each vehicle

increased training costs as health and safety requirements lead to a greater
focus on the provision of well-trained drivers and passenger assistants.
Other possible reasons for increases in costs can be:

1
relaxation in eligibility criteria
“Going Places” (Audit Commission 2001)
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

changes in the transport demand for special needs pupils, e.g. greater average
journey length, more sophisticated vehicle features, more specialist vehicles

reflection of a general trend in contract price increases

increased costs resulting from consolidation among operators and a
consequent lessening of competition

deficiencies in the specification and tendering process.
8.1.6
As home to school transport is now the largest single item retained within LEA
central budgets, rising costs or budget overspends can have a dramatic impact on
other LEA functions. It is, therefore, essential that budgets are properly set and
robust financial management systems are in place to inform decision-making within
the authority.
8.2
BUDGET SETTING
8.2.1
It is essential that budgets are properly planned and that they take account both of
trends in previous expenditure and forecasts of future service provision and costs.
Budget setting in Salford is currently based on historic budgets increased by an
inflation factor. The current method of budget setting is unrealistic; furthermore, it
can present budgetary difficulties during the financial year when it becomes apparent
that there is going to be an overspend.
8.2.2
A more systematic and realistic budget setting procedure needs to be introduced that
takes account of:

demand

quality standards

policy changes

demographic changes

changes to school organisation or day care arrangements

transport inflation.
8.2.3
It is also important that individual budgets are set for each part of the passenger
transport service, and individual officers’ responsibilities for the budget are clearly
defined.
8.2.4
As part of this process, it is essential that detailed information is available on past
budgets and expenditure, and that reasons for unexpected deviations from budgets
are known. It is not realistic to expect service levels to be maintained, or even
increased, with reduced or frozen budgets.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
8.3
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING
8.3.1
The review of current arrangements identified clear weaknesses in the existing
financial management systems for managing budgets and monitoring expenditure.
More robust financial management systems need to be introduced that allow regular
reports to be provided to senior management to assist in the decision making
process. The review should also explore the opportunities for developing or
replacing existing IT systems to improve financial management and make
information more accessible.
8.3.2
Regular monitoring of costs and benchmarking of these against previous
performance and other comparable authorities, alongside service standards and
performance, will assist in identifying opportunities for improving the service and
potential savings. This is dealt with in greater detail in Sections 9 and 10.
8.4
RESPONDING TO COST INCREASES
8.4.1
Reasons for cost increases and possible responses need to be identified. Table 2 in
Task Note 4 details the guidance from the DfEE for identifying factors that may
influence costs.
8.5
RECOMMENDATIONS
8.5.1
We recommend that Salford review the transport budget setting procedure to make it
more systematic and realistic and that more robust financial management systems
are introduced that allow regular reports to be provided to senior management to
assist in the decision making process. The review should also explore the
opportunities for developing or replacing existing IT systems to improve financial
management and make information more accessible
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
9.
Benchmarking
9.1
MAKING COMPARISONS
9.1.1
Comparing the performance of the directorates in the delivery of the various
passenger transport services against other local authority and commercial transport
providers, particularly through the use of performance indicators, is an integral part
of the Best Value process.
9.1.2
The key aim is to identify what others are doing differently and identify potential
opportunities for improvement. Before undertaking data collection the authority
must consider whether potential benefits outweigh the costs.
9.1.3
Comparisons can include:
9.1.4

eligibility for the service and equity of access to the service

demand, both current and future, taking account of any known demographic
changes and other factors

numbers transported and vehicle mix

expenditure and unit costs

efficiency measures

policy, including service quality

service quality achieved

how the service is managed and provided
In making comparisons with other authorities, it is essential that there is consistency
of definition to allow meaningful comparisons to be made. Financial comparisons
need to be set against comparisons of policies, service standards and service
qualities, all of which can impact on cost. Local circumstances can also have an
impact, these may include:

local demography

nature of the problems of the service users receiving transport

location of schools, day centres and other facilities
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

local traffic conditions

local transport market.
9.1.5
To date, there has been little comparison of cost and performance in either the
Education and Leisure Services Directorate or the Community and Social Services
Directorate, either with other authorities or trends within the Authority.
9.1.6
However, an Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) VMS
benchmarking club, chaired by Salford and supported by the Institute of Public
Finance (IPF), has established a suite of performance indicators that is intended to
inform views on comparisons, including cost effectiveness. A pilot exercise was
carried out in January/February 2002 and was scheduled for repetition in January
2003. A customer survey of drivers and driver managers was scheduled for
November 2002. IPF is interested in extending this work nationwide with the
agreement of the group.
9.2
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
9.2.1
Unfortunately there are currently no nationally agreed detailed performance
indicators (PIs) for either home to school or social services transport. In the absence
of national PIs Salford needs to develop its own range of PIs to enable current
performance to be compared with previous performance and also performance in
other comparable authorities. Whilst such comparisons can be seen as an over
simplification because of wide variations that exist in local circumstances, they do
provide management with a measure of performance and identify areas that may
need further investigation.
9.2.2
PIs need to be not only quantative, i.e. measuring numbers of pupils, costs etc., but
also qualitative and measure the quality of the service provided.
9.2.3
Examples of PIs that may be considered are given below:
Mainstream Transport

Total number of pupils conveyed, by category and mode

Total expenditure, by category

Cost per pupil journey per day, by category and mode

% of pupils receiving free transport

% of pupils, receiving free transport, travelling on public transport

% of pupils, receiving free transport, travelling on contracted services by
mode.
Special Needs Transport

Total number of pupils conveyed, by category and mode
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

Total expenditure, by category

Cost per pupil journey per day, by category and mode

% of SEN pupils receiving free transport

% of SEN pupils, receiving free transport, travelling on public transport

% of SEN pupils, receiving free transport, travelling on contracted services
by mode

Total number of passenger assistants

Average number of pupils, per passenger assistant

Total cost of passenger assistant provision

Passenger assistant training

Driver training.
Social Services Transport

Total number of clients conveyed, by category and mode

Total expenditure, by category

Cost per client journey per day, by category and mode

Average vehicle utilisation (in house fleet)

Total number of passenger assistants

Average number of clients, per passenger assistant

Total cost of passenger assistant provision

Passenger assistant training

Driver training.
General (for each of above)
9.2.4

Staff turnover

Staff absences

Number of complaints received

Administration cost as % of activity cost.
Salford needs to agree a set of common PIs with either its statistical neighbours
and/or neighbouring authorities to provide for comparison. This may be achieved
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
through the local ATCO group. We understand that the local ATCO group has met
recently to consider common PIs for home to school transport. Similar arrangements
need to be made in respect of social services transport.
9.2.5
The comparison of SEN transport costs detailed in Task Note 6 indicated that unit
costs in Salford are significantly higher than most of the other authorities referred to.
It would appear that one reason for this might be the relatively high usage of low
occupancy vehicles. It is, therefore, important that any common PIs allow vehicle
mix and occupancy rates to be measured.
9.3
RECOMMENDATIONS
9.3.1
We recommend that Salford develops a formal set of Performance Indicators for
annual reporting and sharing with other authorities (on a confidential basis).
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
10.
Improving the Management of
the Service
10.1
CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
10.1.1
The Audit Commission’s 1991 report into home to school transport identified four
key roles in delivering an efficient, effective, well managed and focused school
transport service:

policy maker

budget holder

transport organiser

transport provider.
10.1.2
It is suggested there should be an unambiguous separation between these roles. The
separated model of the centralised Passenger Transport Unit, proposed by Salford,
conforms most closely to this, with the Unit acting as the transport organiser.
10.1.3
It should also be noted that the model of a comprehensive, authority-wide integrated
Passenger Transport Unit is favoured by the Audit Commission, and is quoted as
representing good practice in its recent reports2 on best value in local authority
transport functions.
10.2
SYSTEMS / PROCESSES
10.2.1
Salford needs to review all its management systems and processes to ensure the
service is being delivered efficiently and effectively. The review should include an
analysis of resources provided for the management of the service. A recurring reason
given for not managing the services effectively is lack of resources. Investment in
the management of the service can often deliver greater savings in service provision.
The review should:

ensure maximum benefit is being gained from available IT systems
‘Going Places: Taking people to and from education, social services and healthcare’ (Audit Commission, Nov 2001);
‘All Aboard: A review of local transport and travel in urban areas outside London’ (Audit Commission, Mar 1999)
2
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report

ensure sufficient resources are made available

promote positive staff attitudes

provide for regular staff appraisal

provide for staff development.
10.3
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
10.3.1
Performance management needs to be based on:
a)
longer term planning
b)
a structured approach to continuous improvement
c)
a continuous process of monitoring performance against clear targets and
externally benchmarked standards.
10.3.2
A detailed service specification identifying the different activities undertaken, and
setting clear targets of performance for each activity needs to be prepared for each
part of the service.
10.3.3
Performance should then be monitored and compared both with previous
performance and the targets set. The introduction of service specifications will also
assist in ensuring that comparisons of performance are on a ‘level playing field’.
10.3.4
The service specifications need to be an integral part of any Service Level
Agreement (SLA) between a Passenger Transport Unit and the client departments,
and regular reports on performance should be prepared for senior management.
10.4
RECOMMENDATIONS
10.4.1
We recommend that Salford

reviews all its management systems and processes and ensure sufficient
resources are provided to deliver an efficient and cost effective service

prepares detailed service specifications for the different activities undertaken

develops SLAs that provide for regular monitoring of performance and
standards.
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Salford City Council: Home to School and Social Care Transport: Final Report
11.
Conclusions
11.1.1
The review team has carried out a fundamental review of passenger transport
services in Salford, including a robust challenge of all aspects of service delivery,
and identified areas of improvement that are outlined above.
11.1.2
Significant progress has already been made by the City Council in a number of the
areas referred to, including agreement, in principle, to the establishment of a
centralised Passenger Transport Unit.
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