The Members Home to School Transport Appeals Panel met on Wednesday, 3 September 2025, to consider an appeal regarding the non-provision of free school transport. The panel unanimously resolved to refuse the appeal, upholding the original decision based on the council's Home to School Transport Policy.

School Transport Appeal

The panel considered an appeal by applicant D.C.J.T. against the decision of the authority not to provide free school transport. The appeal was against the Stage 1 Review Panel's decision to refuse free transport to a school that was not the nearest, or Local Education Authority (LEA) designated school¹ for the home address, and therefore did not meet the criteria outlined in the council's policy.

The panel considered the written representations of the appellant, as well as observations from departmental officers, and the individual circumstances of the case.

The panel unanimously resolved to refuse the appeal because D.C.J.T. was not attending the nearest or LEA designated school for the home address, due to parental preference, and this did not meet the criteria for free school transport as laid out in the Authority's Home to School Transport Policy.

Due to the inclusion of personal information relating to the applicant, the public was excluded from the meeting during the consideration of this item, as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007. The panel felt that the public interest in maintaining confidentiality outweighed the public interest in disclosure because of the need to protect the identity of the applicant and the family.

Attendees

The following councillors were present at the meeting: Councillor Edward Thomas, Cabinet Member, Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member, and Cllr. Shone Hughes.

Also present were A. John, Assistant Solicitor, A. Evans, Operations Manager - Passenger Transport, Kelly Phillips, Passenger Transport Policy & Development Manager, Euros Anthony, Senior School Admissions Officer, Siwan Rees, Simultaneous Translator, and Emma Bryer, Democratic Services Officer.