Types of travel assistance
- Types of travel assistance
- How we decide on travel assistance
- Parental preference and travel assistance
- Apply for transport
- Consultation responses and feedback
- Contact
Types of travel assistance
A child with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) will be eligible for home to school travel assistance if they meet the criteria in our Home to School Travel Assistance policies.
Travel assistance must be applied for through the Passenger Transport Service (PTS) using our online form.
The types of support available include:
- Vehicle transport
- Travel Buddying and Independent Travel Training (ITT)
- Personal Travel Budget (PTB) or paid mileage
For us to decide on the most suitable type of travel assistance, we’ll need to know of the medical, behavioural and mobility needs of your child to help us to put any specialised measures in place.
Our travel assistance escorts, travel buddies, and travel trainers are trained to a high standard to care for the safety, comfort and wellbeing of passengers.
Their training includes:
- Passenger Assistant Training (PATS)
- Managing children’s behaviour through strategies such as positive behavioural management
- Wheelchair use and securing on vehicles
- First Aid
- Safeguarding/child protection
- Communicating with children with disabilities
- Makaton/British Sign Language signing
All our staff are trained in the ‘Processes and Procedures’ outlined in our Escort handbook 2022-23 (PDF, 316KB)
Travel arrangements regarding your child’s travel assistance should be made directly to the Passenger Transport Service (PTS).
If you don’t meet the criteria for travel assistance, you will need to make sure your child arrives at school safely.
Transport for London (TfL) (external link) provide a variety of free or discounted travel options, as well as other forms of financial support for children and young people travelling to school.
Vehicle transport
Travel assistance is mainly provided through an accessible taxi or minibus.
Most of our taxi or bus travel options transport more than one passenger at a time, travelling together to the same/close-by school. We try to meet the needs of a family's desired pick-up/drop-off times but also must consider the needs of other individuals on the route.
We may provide a travel assistance escort. It is the job of escorts to look after the passenger on their journey to and from school.
We may also supply other equipment to ensure the safety of the passenger whilst in the vehicle. This may include booster seats, and harnesses. Decisions relating to the use of harnesses will rely on approval from parents/carers.
Further information relating to vehicle transport, such as pick-up points and times, medication and more, can be found in our home to school travel assistance policies.
Travel Buddying and Independent Travel Training (ITT)
Depending on the needs of your child, we may be able to provide a Travel Buddy and/or Independent Travel Training (ITT). The aim of this is to develop the confidence of your child to enable them to one day travel independently.
The passenger may:
- Have one-to-one ITT training sessions with a travel trainer, and/or
- Travel to and from school, walking or public transport whilst accompanied by a travel buddy
During their journeys, your child will be shown how to access public transport services, plan journeys, and think about personal safety whilst travelling. It also covers what to do if something unexpected happens - this helps your child to remain confident in their travel skills.
These schemes are an excellent way to equip your child with vital life skills and play a big part in their preparations for adulthood.
Further information relating to the Travel Buddy and ITT schemes can be found in our home to school Travel Assistance policies.
Personal Travel Budget (PTB) or paid mileage
If you meet the criteria for transport but want to make your own arrangements in getting your child to school, or you believe that your current arrangements aren’t suitable, you can contact the PTS to discuss the options available.
We can support you as parent/carers in one of two ways:
- A Personal Travel Budget: a payment made to you that will help you to arrange your child’s home to school travel arrangements in a way that suits your family. The value of a PTB is worked out on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the specific needs of the child and their family circumstances
- A Paid Mileage: if you have access to your own vehicle, we can support you to pay for the fuel during the journeys to and from school. Haringey have a cost per mile
See our Guide to personal travel budgets (PTB) (PDF, 188KB)
If your child is currently on transport and you would like to be considered for a personal travel budget, or paid mileage, please contact the PTS at School.Transport@haringey.gov.uk.
Please note, financial options are granted at the discretion of the PTS, there is no automatic right to receive this option.
Further information about PTBs/paid mileage and how they are calculated, can be found in our home to school travel assistance policies.
How we decide on travel assistance
Home to school travel arrangements are made by Passenger Transport Services (PTS). To be eligible for transport, the child or young person will need to meet the criteria in our Home to School Travel Assistance policies.
Once we have received your form and the application is accepted, we will discuss with you the type of travel assistance that will be provided for your child. A risk assessment will be conducted to make sure the passenger will receive the travel assistance that suits them.
Things to consider include:
- the specific needs of the passenger
- the distance from home to school;
- the complexity of the journey from home to school;
- if the passenger can become an independent traveller;
- if there is a family member/carer who can help get the passenger get to school
- the best use of Haringey’s resources
The risk assessment is made partly through your application form, so please make sure to include information about your child's medical needs, ways of communicating with people, particular likes and dislikes or fears (such as road drills etc).
The decisions regarding a child or young person’s travel arrangements, whether this is their eligibility or the type of assistance that is provided, are made in line with our Home to School Travel Assistance policies, which follow the guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) (external link)
If you require any advice relating to a passenger’s travel assistance, or if there is a change to a passenger’s circumstances, parents/carers should contact the team on 020 8489 5629, or by email at School.Transport@haringey.gov.uk.
Parental preference and travel assistance
If you choose to send your child to a school that the council does not consider to be the nearest suitable school, the council has no duty to provide free transport. In such circumstances, parents will be required to make their own transport arrangements.
The nearest suitable school is one that the local authority deems to be suitable for the specific needs of the pupil.
Apply for transport
Apply for SEN Transport and Travel Assistance
There is no need to reapply for transport each year if the child is under 16 and staying at the same school. You need only apply for transport under the below circumstances:
- the passenger has not previously received travel assistance from Haringey
- the passenger has changed address
- the passenger has changed the schools
- the passenger is 16+ and moving to a new school or college, or remaining at the same school
We will only provide travel assistance for children or young people who meet our criteria. For more details, please see our Home to School Travel Assistance policy page.
Consultation responses and feedback
Following the consultation, the new policies have now been agreed. The policies can be found on the Apply for Transport page.
Contact
If you have any queries please contact the Passenger Transport Service:
Passenger Transport Service (PTS)
London Borough of Haringey,
5th Floor, 48 Station Road,
Wood Green
N22 7TY
Email: School.Transport@haringey.gov.uk
Tel: 020 8489 5629
For general enquiries please try to avoid calling at peak times - 7am-9am and 2.30pm-4pm.
If your query is urgent, the PTS team will try to respond as soon as possible.