Parents may appeal to the council's School Transport and Curriculum Appeals Committee should they disagree with the decision taken by the School Transport and Benefits Team concerning the eligibility of their child for travel support.

The committee meets regularly to consider appeals relating to application of the council's policy for assisting with transport for pupils and students at schools and colleges.

The School Transport and Benefits Team will provide information about the appeals procedure to parents if they disagree with the original decision made and put their reasons in writing to the team.

Where parents wish to challenge the available route used to measure distance because of the nature of the route, the committee will consider the individual circumstances of the case and may need to make a judgement about safety, taking into account the child, the nature of the route and whether the child could be accompanied or not.

The following guidelines are used to aid assessment of the availability of the route relevant to traffic and highway conditions. The individual circumstances in each case will be considered. The figures quoted are only to act as a guide in decision-making. It will be assumed that the child is to be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult.

• Where there is a footway or roadside strip, this will normally be assumed to provide an available route for that part of the journey.
• Where a public footpath, bridleway or other public right of way exists, this will normally be assumed to provide an available route for that part of the journey.
• On a narrow or lightly-trafficked road (as a guide, two way traffic of less than 250 vehicles per hour with less than five per cent of heavy goods vehicle traffic will normally be considered as a light weight of traffic) where a verge exists that can be stepped on to – this will normally be assumed to provide an available route for that part of the journey.
• Where there is no verge or footway and the width of the road is 18ft (5.5m) or less, the following also needs to be considered:
  
  
  • traffic frequency;
  • composition of traffic;
  • relevant accident statistics.

• Where it is necessary to cross the road, visibility should be taken into account.