Home to School Transport Provision
Exceptional Circumstances
Policy
April 2015
Appealing for Transport on the grounds of having Exceptional Circumstances
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APPEALING FOR TRANSPORT ON GROUNDS OF HAVING
EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Introduction:
It is the legal responsibility of every parent or other person with parental
responsibility for a child to cause that child to receive a full time education by means
of regular attendance at school or otherwise. For children who are registered pupils
at a school, it is therefore the responsibility of a parent or person with parental
responsibility to ensure that the child attends the school at which they are registered,
and, if necessary that the child is accompanied to school. In the event that the
parents or persons with parental responsibility are unavailable at the time their child
travels to and from school, due to work commitments or otherwise, it remains their
responsibility to make arrangements to ensure that their child attends school.
The circumstances in which the Education Authority will make arrangements for
transporting a child to and from school or provide assistance for such arrangements
are set out in the Department of Education’s Circular 1996/41 – School Transport,
the most recent version of which was published on 18 September 2009.
Paragraph 8 of Circular 1996/41 recognises that it may not always be appropriate to
determine applications for home to school transport assistance by reference to the
eligibility rules which it contains and that the Education Authority reserves the right to
provide assistance in cases falling outside those rules and which it considers to be
exceptional in nature.
The Education Authority will therefore consider all applications for home to school
transport assistance in accordance with the contents of Circular 1996/41 and will
also consider any applications in which the child is not eligible under its rules, which
are exceptional in nature. Where an application is made on the ground that it is
exceptional, it is the responsibility of the parent or person with parental responsibility
for the child to make available to the Education Authority all of the fact,
circumstances and materials which are relied upon to demonstrate the exceptional
nature of the case. In such cases, the Education Authority reserves the right to
request additional information and/or to conduct such further investigations or
inquiries into the materials relied upon as it considers to be appropriate in the
circumstances.
By their very nature, it is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of those
circumstances which the Education Authority does and does not consider to be
exceptional. The Education Authority will therefore consider each application for
transport assistance upon its individual merits. However, in order to assist parents
or persons with parental responsibility in deciding whether to make such an
application and, if so, what materials to supply, the Education Authority can provide
the following non-exhaustive guidelines on the circumstances which it will not
normally consider to be exceptional and those which may be exceptional under
Paragraph 8 of the Department of Education’s Circular 1996/41.
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GUIDELINES
Circumstances which the Education Authority will NOT normally consider to
be exceptional:

Low income or lack of income on the part of the child’s parent/person with
parental responsibility.

Non-availability of or lack of access to transport by the parent/person with
parental responsibility.

Work commitments or domestic difficulties of parents/persons with parental
responsibility including taking other children to school.
Parent/person with parental responsibility unavailable/unable to escort their
child to and from school; or to and from designated bus stop.


A child attends a school/college outside the distance criteria which is not the
nearest school/college by reason of parental choice.

Risks to the safety of the child arising from walking through perceived hostile
areas along the shortest available route, where access to alternative safe
means of transport to and from school/college is reasonably available to the
child.
Circumstances which the Education Authority MAY not normally consider to
be exceptional:
If any parent or person with parental responsibility wishes to rely upon any of the
following circumstances in support of an application for exceptional transport
assistance, the Education Authority will normally expect the application to be
supported by the type of information described in Appendix A. This may also be of
assistance in gathering information to support applications in circumstances other
than those identified below.
Although not an exhaustive list of exceptional circumstances, dependent on the
evidence the following situations may be considered exceptional:

Travel to or from school either has resulted in the child suffering significant
harm or is likely to result in the child suffering significant harm and where
alternative safe means of transport are not reasonably available to the child.

Enforced relocation.

Serious Mental Health concerns for the child.

Extreme and persistent bullying.
Appealing for Transport on the grounds of having Exceptional Circumstances
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Application Process:
Requests for transport assistance in exceptional circumstances must be made in
writing by completing the ‘REQUEST FOR APPEAL APPLICATION FORM’ and
return it to:
Transport Manager
Education Authority – South Eastern Region
Grahamsbridge Road
Dundonald
BELFAST
BT16 2HS
or by email to: sinead.reavey@eani.org.uk.
Applications for transport assistance in exceptional circumstances must be
supported by relevant and appropriate documentation. Appendix A details the type
of evidence that will be required in support of an application.
All requests for transport assistance in exceptional circumstances will be determined
by a “Transport in Exceptional Circumstances Panel” (“the Panel”) comprising of
officers within the Education Authority.
Applicants will normally be notified of the Panel’s decision in writing within 10
working days following consideration by the Panel. If further information is required,
it may not be possible to make a decision within this timescale.
The Panel will meet on a regular basis. At peak times in the school year it may not
be possible to do so. However the Panel will endeavour to determine all applications
as quickly as possible.
As set out above, the onus rests with parents or persons with parental responsibility
to ensure that all applications for exceptional transport assistance are supported by
sufficient evidence of the exceptional circumstances relied upon. Where applications
are not supported by any or sufficient evidence (eg evidence from a health or
education professional), or are otherwise incomplete, the application may be
refused. Alternatively, the Education Authority may return the application with an
indication of the deficiencies in the supporting materials and invite the application to
be resubmitted when the necessary materials are available.
The correct applicant is the Parent/person with parental responsibility and
applications cannot be considered without the signature of the Parent/person with
parental responsibility. Where an application form has not been signed, it will either
be refused or returned.
Provision Provided:
The Education Authority reserves the right to provide transport assistance to the
parents/guardian which is different from the form of transport assistance requested,
but which the Education Authority considers to be consistent with:

The welfare needs of the child (as opposed to those of the Parent/person with
parental responsibility) and/or
Appealing for Transport on the grounds of having Exceptional Circumstances
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
The efficient management of transport services and resources
It is a matter of parental/person with parental responsibility choice whether to accept
the transport assistance which the Authority is willing to provide.
Where transport assistance has been accepted by the parent/person with parental
responsibility, the provision will be made available for a specified fixed period initially
and will be subject to regular review thereafter during the period the child remains a
registered pupil at the relevant school. Each review will take account of:

All of the circumstances of the case

Any changed circumstances

The uptake of provision

Attendance rates

Resource constraints
As a consequence of that review the Education Authority reserves the right to
change the terms of transport assistance or terminate the existing arrangements.
Appeal Mechanism:
Where the applicant is not satisfied with the Panel’s decision, the Parent/person with
parental responsibility may appeal in writing to the Transport Manager at the address
provided or by email to: sinead.reavey@eani.org.uk. It is important that you detail the
reasons why the Authority should provide transport assistance for your child on the
grounds of exceptional circumstances. It is important that you detail in your
correspondence the reasons for your appeal.
This appeal will then be considered by a new panel.
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Appendix A – Examples of Possible Exceptional Circumstances
CIRCUMSTANCE
Travel to or from school
either has resulted in the
child suffering significant
harm or is likely to result
in the child suffering
significant harm and
where alternative safe
means of transport are
not reasonably available
to the child.
TYPICAL EVIDENCE REQUIRED
Where there is evidence that a child has suffered or is
likely to suffer significant harm the Education Authority
may, if appropriate, review eligibility of the child for
transport assistance. Information is required from at least
one of the following Agencies before the request can be
considered:
 Health & Social Services Trust
 PSNI
 Education Welfare Service
Enforced Relocation
Where families are forced to move home at short notice
for reasons beyond their control, the Education Authority
may, if appropriate, review eligibility of the child for
transport assistance. Information is required from at least
one of the following Agencies before the request can be
considered:
 PSNI
 The Housing Executive or other Housing Authority
(if appropriate)
 The Health & Social Services Trust
Serious Mental Health Where professionals have raised serious concerns in the
Concerns for the child
light of their assessment of the child in relation to his or
her mental health, the Education Authority may, if
appropriate, review eligibility for transport assistance.
Information is required from at least one of the following
professionals:
 Consultant Paediatrician
 Community Consultant Paediatrician
 Child Psychiatrist
 Clinical Psychologist
Change
of
school
placement as a result of
extreme and persistent
bullying
Documentary evidence will be required detailing the steps
taken to resolve the bullying through existing anti-bullying
procedures within the school, together with a report from
a Senior Education Welfare Officer. In such cases the
Education Authority may, if appropriate, review eligibility
of the child for transport assistance.
Transport assistance in exceptional circumstances will
normally only be provided to the child experiencing the
bullying and all siblings will be subject to the normal
transport policy.
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HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT
SCHOOL TRAVEL AND ROUTES MEASURED
REQUEST FOR APPEAL APPLICATION FORM
Please use this form if you wish to request an appeal of the decision not to award your child
free transport to school.
PUPIL DETAILS
Child’s Name:
School:
Home Address:
PARENT(S)/GUARDIAN(S)DETAILS
Title:
Surname:
Home Telephone:
Email:
Date of Birth:
First Name:
Work Telephone:
REASONS FOR REQUEST FOR REVIEW
I wish to appeal on the grounds that (please tick one or more of the following):
A
B
C
I consider the qualifying distance between my home and the
school/college has been inaccurately measure and exceeds the
statutory qualifying distance of 2/3 miles.
I consider the qualifying route measured between my home and the
school/college is unavailable due to being exceptionally unsafe for my
child accompanied as necessary by an adult to transverse.
I believe there are other extenuating reasons why my child should be
treated as an exceptional case.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Taking account of the fact you will have been provided with the reasoning why the
application has been rejected, it is important that where possible you clarify and
provide any additional evidence you have in relation to your request for appeal.
Please provide further information below in support of your appeal.
(continue overleaf as required)
Appealing for Transport on the grounds of having Exceptional Circumstances
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CONFIRMATION
I confirm the details provided on the form are correct.
Signed:
Date:
Print name in block capitals:
SUPPORTING INFORMATION CONTINUED:
Please return the completed form to:
Transport Manager
Education Authority – South Eastern Region
Grahamsbridge Road
Dundonald
BELFAST
BT16 2HS
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