Disabled teens in transport U-turn
THE start of a controversial new post-16 transport policy has been deferred by Northamptonshire County Council for six months following a furious backlash to the proposed changes.
Throughout the past month, the Chronicle & Echo has highlighted the plight of a number of parents of disabled children who could be forced to pay thousands of pounds a year following the county council's decision to remove free transport.
Some parents, who are facing paying a bill for up to half their child's transport, have contacted their solicitors to launch a legal challenge against the cuts.
Yesterday, Councillor Heather Smith (Con, Prebendal), cabinet member for transport, minerals and waste, announced that in view of the "strong feeling" generated by the proposed change in policy, a fuller consultation needed to be carried out.
Councillor Smith said that the parents' complaints had been "listened to" and the council had decided to extend the period of consultation to "fully understand and assess the impact that the proposed changes will have on individuals concerned".
She said: "We have quickly been made aware of the impact that this policy would have on parents and what this demonstrates is that we have listened and recognised their concerns.
"We will now have more time to have in-depth discussions with families affected so we can be fair to all."
David Farquhar, head of transport and highways, said the policy had never meant to be rigidly imposed so that parents either paid 50 per cent of the transport costs or nothing.
He said: "Part of the evolution of any policy is to try to identify and understand the impact on the individual. There are many different variables to consider."
Councillor Smith said she hoped that a "sliding scale" could be constructed so that a parent of a disabled child earning just over the 16,000 a year threshold did not have to pay the full 50 per cent transport costs.
She said: "Being discriminatory was never our intention. We wanted to create a system that was absolutely fair. We will now revisit and assess each case individually."
Councillor Smith said the costs of carrying on with the old post-16 transport policy into the next financial year had not been budgeted for but would have to absorbed by the county council.
The findings of the extended consultation period will be reported back to cabinet in January 2011 for further consideration.
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