Leicester City Council Education and Children’s Services Transport policy statement for learners aged 16-18 in further education and continuing learners aged 19 and over. Valid from: 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016 1. Summary of Policy Statement and Main Objectives This document sets out the support available to young people of Leicester entering or continuing with full-time Post 16 Education to encourage participation and prevent transport being a barrier to young learners. It provides the most up to date details of charges and means testing procedures. It gives advice on the support available to learners with learning/mobility difficulties to encourage independent travel to and from the place of learning. 2. Details of concessionary fares. Leicester City Council – provision for mainstream learners A bus pass costing £425 is available for Leicester resident pupils over statutory school age if they live more than 3 miles but less than 20 miles from the school/college attended, and if the student is aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of the college year. The pass allows travel on both First and Arriva buses to get to school/college. There are alternatives to the Leicester City Council Bus Pass. If you only need to use a bus from one operator, you could get better value in terms of price and flexibility by purchasing a season ticket directly from a commercial bus operator. Before you apply for a Leicester City Council bus pass we strongly urge you to consider all of the commercially available alternatives. Most commercially available season tickets allow you to travel at any time and on any day including weekends. In comparison the City Council bus pass can be only used for one return journey per day to and from school/college and can't be used during holidays or at weekends. Please visit the websites listed below for more information on commercial services in your area and the range of student season tickets and multi-trip tickets that are currently available. Please check these websites regularly for any special offers. Arriva Student Saver First Leicester Student Tickets Transport arranged by schools and colleges Some of Leicester’s schools, academies and 6th Form/FE colleges have additional bus contract arrangements on which learners or their parents can purchase places. Arrangements vary, so enquiries should be made to individual schools. Some schools also run "late buses” on various days of the week to enable learners to participate in extra curricular activities or additional study groups. Contact the individual schools for details. Brooksby Melton College (Leicestershire): Details of BMC dedicated routes can be found on the website www.brooksbymelton.ac.uk. If not eligible for LA subsidised transport, students should contact the college Transport Department on 01664 855211 for further advice. Gateway Sixth Form College (Leicester): Students not eligible for LA subsidised transport can apply to the means tested Guaranteed Bursary and Discretionary Support Fund for help with their transport costs. Application forms for the Guaranteed Bursary and Discretionary Support Fund are available from Student Services at the college. Leicester College (Leicester): Learners need to apply for bus passes directly to the bus company. Leicester College will refund learners £100 after a six week period of attendance if they have purchased an annual bus pass themselves. Those who are not eligible for an LA bus pass are referred to the College discretionary Learner Support Fund (LSF) which may be able to help with the cost of travelling to and from college. To qualify for a bus pass from the discretionary LSF learners must pass a means-tested assessment based upon parents/students disposable income. Learners must live over two miles from the campus they are attending to be considered for this assistance. The discretionary LSF may also contribute to petrol costs if the learner wishes to travel by car/scooter. Loughborough College (Leicestershire): Loughborough College are offering a Travel Fare Subsidy of £200 towards the cost of a travel pass to all students with a household income of £45,000 or less. To be eligible, Leicester students must be under 19 at the start of their full-time further education course and living outside of Loughborough (LE11). Further information is available on the college website www.loucoll.ac.uk or by calling 01509 618375. Arriva ‘Midlands Student Saver Ticket’: This is an ‘unlimited use ticket’ for the midlands region for a full year; this includes weekends, evenings and bank holidays. Other tickets are available - see their website for more information: http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/student-saver-tickets-in-midlands/ Or call 0844 8004411, or visit the Travel Shop at St Margaret’s Bus Station. Kinchbus 24/7 Network Ticket: This is an ‘unlimited use ticket’ for the midlands region for a full year; this includes weekends, evenings and bank holidays available to Loughborough College students only. For more information please contact the college or Kinchbus on 01509 815637 or www.kinchbus.co.uk Centrebus 24/7 Network Smartcard: This is an ‘unlimited use ticket’ for a full year, for travel on any of Centrebus’ within Leicestershire (not valid beyond the county boundary) this includes weekends, evenings and bank holidays available to Loughborough College students only. For more information please contact the college or Centrebus on 0844 351 1120 or www.centrebus.info North Warwickshire & Hinckley College: Further information is available from the Customer Service Team Tel: 02476 243366 or from the website: http://www.nwhc.ac.uk/ Email: [email protected] Regent College (Leicester): Learners who are ineligible for LA subsidised transport may apply for the college’s means tested bursary fund to assist with their transport costs. Full details of this support is available from the college website – www.regent- college.ac.uk or from a divisional administrator available on 0116 2554629. South Leicestershire College (Wigston, Leicestershire): Learners will be able to apply to receive help towards the cost of either an Arriva pass or a pass for the College contract buses. Learners may be eligible for further assistance with transport costs by applying through one of the means tested learner support funds. Stephenson College (Coalville, Leicestershire): Students can apply for assistance with transport costs through the College’s means tested Bursary Fund. The College provides a free shuttle bus service for students between Coalville town centre and the College campus. Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College (Leicester): Students may apply to the college’s means-tested 16-19 bursary fund. If eligible, support given will usually be a contribution towards the cost of a pass bought direct from their Local Authority or a commercial service operator, or as applicable, a termly pass may be provided. Students unable to buy a travel pass due to financial hardship may apply to the college means- tested fund for help. Full details of the support available is published on the college website at: http://www.wqeic.ac.uk/transport/ Bus Operators Contact the bus-operators directly for details of the offers available. See below for the relevant contact details. 3. Contact information. Leicester City Council If you want information about the assistance that is provided by Leicester City Council call Education Transport on (0116) 454 1009 (Option 2). If you need individual special needs transport call the Education Department on (0116) 454 2050. For general advice for Leicestershire County Council residents, phone the School Transport Helpline on (0116) 305 8777 Individual colleges Brooksby Melton College (Leicestershire): Contact Transport Department on 01664 855211 Email: [email protected] Information available at interview and in 16-18 Travel Guide by visiting www.brooksbymelton.ac.uk Gateway Sixth Form College (Leicester): 0116 2744500 Student Services - email: [email protected] Website: www.gateway.ac.uk Leicester College (Leicester): 0116 2242240 or 2244048 to discuss any travel queries with a member of the Student Advice and Guidance Team. For information regarding transport provision for students with learning difficulties contact Ragini Patel on 0116 2242240 extension 2138. For information regarding LA transport provision contact Leicestershire County Council. For any other transport queries email: [email protected] Loughborough College (Leicestershire): Website: www.loucoll.ac.uk Student Finance Officer, Student Support, Loughborough College, Radmoor Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3BT Telephone: 01509 618375 E-Mail: [email protected] North Warwickshire & Hinckley College (Leicestershire): Customer Service Team 024 7624 3000 or email [email protected] Website: www.nwhc.ac.uk Regent College (Leicester): Divisional administrators ‘The Hub’. Tel: (0116) 255 4629 Email: via website Website: www.regent-college.ac.uk South Leicestershire College (Leicestershire): 0116 2643535. Transport assistance is discussed and forms distributed on interview. College website: www.slcollege.ac.uk Stephenson College (Leicestershire): Telephone: 01530 836136 Fax: 01530 814253 Website: www.stephensoncoll.ac.uk Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth 1 College (Leicester): Further details and application forms are available from the Student Services Office: Tel: (0116) 247 2963 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wqeic.ac.uk Bus Operators http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/ http://www.kinchbus.co.uk/ http://www.firstgroup.com/ http://www.centrebus.info/Pages/default.aspx Train Services http://www.midlandmainline.railsaver.co.uk/ http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx General Information Department for Education: https://www.gov.uk/subsidised-college-transport-16-19 Leicester City Council: Customer Service Centre 91 Granby Street Leicester LE1 6FB Telephone 0116 454 1009 (Option 2) Website: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ Bus routes and timetable information are available from: 4. Appeals and Complaints The process to Appeal against a decision or to complain may be made on behalf of the learner or by the learner in the first instance to the local authority.