Policy/Procedure Relating to the Transport for Children Open to a Children's Social Care Team
Scope of this chapter
- Westmorland & Furness Council has a duty to provide transport for all children under its care. This policy has been developed to ensure the safe and efficient provision of transport for looked after children and children in need between home, school, leisure, contact and any other place or activity as part of the child's care plan;
- The safety and wellbeing of children and young people is of paramount importance and will be given priority when making transport arrangements. Arrangements will be authorised and reflect the outcomes of a robust risk assessment, which should reflect the needs and vulnerabilities of the child or young person;
- The first (preferred) option is always for a child or young person to be transported by someone who has an existing relationship with them such as a carer or their social worker. Only where this is not possible will alternative provision be arranged;
- Young people should be consulted by social work staff before transport arrangements are made and their views and wishes taken into account;
- Children and young people should not be taken to new placements or short breaks without someone they know who can support them appropriately through such a significant transition and stay with them for good quality introductions to their new carers.
Related guidance
- Child Exploitation (including Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Criminal Exploitation) Procedure (Cumbria Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures)
As part of an assessment the social care worker may identify a transport need for a child or young person. The need for transport and subsequent details should be recorded within the Child's Plan. The frequency and method of transport to contacts with parents or to other services should be agreed and noted in the plan.
Transport may also be required for contact if a child is taken into care. Transport could be required to respite, school, contact, and other activities.
If transport is required to a service, staff should first speak to a family member, foster parent or alternative carer to determine if they are able to provide the transport for the child.
If the transport cannot be provided by the family or the foster parent, the next preferred option is for the child or young person to be transported by the social worker or child and family worker. Where this is not possible, arrangements can be made to transport the child via taxi in line with agreed procedures outlined in this document.
Wherever possible children and young people who live close to their school should travel in the same way as their peers:
- Be walked to school by their carers; or
- Walk alone if they are of an appropriate age and can do so safely; or
- Be driven by their carers and dropped off;
- Reach school by public transport if they are of an appropriate age and can do so safely.
In house foster carers are expected to meet all their travel costs as part of their fostering allowance, but if the costs are excessive, due to distance or the frequency of arrangements, they can receive a mileage rate for undertaking this transportation. This must be agreed by the fostering Team Manager.
All transport requests must be fully completed by the child' social worker and be agreed by the responsible Team Manager.
Foster carers will normally be expected to undertake 'normal' parental duties, which will include taking a child to a local school. Foster carers are expected to meet the cost of any local journeys, including arrangements for children to attend local schools. Where this is not possible, arrangements around travel to school (e.g. for children not attending local schools) must be made individually in the child's Placement Plan.
Foster carers are expected to meet the costs of local travel by car from their weekly allowances which includes a proportion for transport. Payment of mileage claims will be considered by the Fostering Service Team Manager, where the child is taken to a school or contact more than 3 miles away from the home. Mileage claim forms should clearly indicate the deduction of the 3 miles from the round trip. The mileage meter readings must be completed.
Prospective foster carers should always confirm that they can safely provide sufficient space in their existing vehicle (s) for the number of foster children they offer to provide care for.
There may be practical reasons why it is not possible for the foster carer to provide transport for the child, e.g. foster carer does not drive or does not have access to a car, or they may have foster children from different families. However, every effort should be made to ensure carers do provide the transport so that foster children do not feel different e.g. by arriving to school by taxi.
If a child needs to be transported to a place of safety out of working hours, out of hours staff should arrange transport using the same process and approved providers list, obtaining authorisation from the covering manager.
Transport for respite or short breaks should be arranged in the same way as detailed throughout this procedure.
All travel arrangements agreed by the social worker should be clearly defined and reflected in the care plan. This should form part of the discussion within the subsequent CLA reviews and be regularly reviewed and updated.
- An individual child risk assessment and transport request form (previously referred to as form 66) must be completed each time a new transport arrangement is agreed and authorised by the Team Manager;
- Business Support colleagues have been instructed not to progress transport requests without the appropriate paperwork, and will report non-compliance to the three Business Resource Managers who will liaise with team and service managers to resolve any issues;
- The risk assessment should be reviewed at regular intervals;
- A risk assessment is an important tool in ensuring the safety of young people being transported and also to protect drivers and passenger assistants. Health and Safety legislation requires risk assessments to be undertaken. The law does not expect us to be able to eliminate all risks but to protect people as far as 'reasonably practicable'. Social Workers transporting children in their cars must ensure that a risk assessment, in liaison with their line managers or a covering manager, is carried out before transporting a child;
- A copy of the risk assessment must be stored on the child's file and also provided to any relevant parties to enable them to manage the risks effectively (for example, the taxi company) The risk assessment should follow the agreed template, revised in February 2016 to include specific reference to CSE. See Appendix 1: Successful Operator List and LOTS.
- Transport arrangements should be detailed within a child's care plan and reviewed regularly to ensure they are still appropriate and all relevant documentation is up to date.
- Business support team leaders will continue to conduct a quarterly dip sample audit of transport documentation to ensure arrangements are only being made using the specified forms, authorised providers and processes (including financial processes such as petty cash). Any issues of non-compliance will be reported to the business resource manager for escalation with senior managers;
- The quarterly compliance check will also review whether long standing payments to families are being managed appropriately;
- The results of the quarterly compliance check will feed into ongoing risk monitoring.
- No child/ren (under 13) should be in a taxi without a responsible adult and ideally it should be someone they know: a carer, member of staff or if this is not possible an approved escort provided by the taxi firm;
- For older children 13 years and older judgement should be made based on their vulnerability, and reason for travel. Responsibility remains with the worker and Team Manager to ensure all safety aspects have been considered and they have confidence that the most appropriate arrangement has been made.
- From May 2018 a new framework has been in place to be used for journeys being booked by taxi;
- The framework must be used as a first port of call when arranging any new transport for a child or young person by taxi;
- It is recognised that immediate cancellation of all existing contracts may be extremely problematic for the business so a common sense approach should be adopted in moving gradually over to the new framework for existing contracts as soon as practicable;
- All transport operators on the framework have been approved by a rigorous process and maximum costs have been pre-agreed. In addition, all operators have made a commitment to increase taxi driver and passenger assistant knowledge of safeguarding issues and how to report concerns;
- All drivers and passenger assistants cleared to work on this transport framework will be given an ID Badge (this is similar to Council ID badges) which must be worn when undertaking work under this framework. Therefore anyone involved in the transport can check the driver and passenger assistants are cleared before placing a child in the taxi for a pre-booked journey;
- In order to obtain an ID Badge the driver and/or passenger assistant must have undertaken an enhanced DBS check with the children's barred list checked. In addition we are bringing in employer and character reference checks for any new applicant;
- All operators have made the commitment to train their staff, within 3 months of undertaking any services under this framework. All passenger assistant(s) must complete the Council's standard passenger assistant training however in addition, and especially for this framework, drivers and passenger assistants must complete Level 1 safeguarding training online at Cumbria LSCP website and Child Sexual Exploitation training;
- Also drivers and passenger assistants will have completed basic first aid training provided by their operator;
- Due to the nature of Westmorland & Furness, it has been necessary to tender this framework out in geographical lots. The correct lot can be selected based on location of the passenger or the final destination. For example a passenger residing in Kendal but travelling to Barrow either lot 1 or lot 2 could be used. Full contact details for each of the operators are provided in Appendix 1: Successful Operator List and LOTS.
- As stated in our policy statement, whilst the preference is always that transport is provided by someone known well by the child or young person (such as a member of children and families services, a foster carer or family member), it is recognised that there may be situations where teams have to call upon taxi firms to provide transport. If this is the case, then the following process should be followed to use the framework.
NB before using the framework please refer to your business support team leader/business resource manager for pricing details, the pricing is confidential and should not be disclosed to any other party.
- Select the most appropriate lot, by geographical area, based on location of the passenger or destination;
Lot 1 – Kendal area;
Lot 2 – Barrow area;
Lot 3 – Allerdale & Copeland area;
Lot 4 – Carlisle & Eden area. - The operators are appointed to the lots in a ranked order. This ranking has been set in accordance with the award criteria outlined in the tender process. (Appendix 1: Successful Operator List and LOTS.);
- When a transport need arises, the highest ranked operator on the relevant lot who can accommodate your needs (e.g. vehicle size, wheelchair accessibility, passenger assistant) should be contacted. Details of this are provided in Appendix 1: Successful Operator List and LOTS. However for clarification if you require a wheelchair accessible vehicle, and the operator highest ranked has not submitted a price for this type of vehicle then go to the second highest ranked operator in the relevant lot;
- Contact the operator by telephone or e-mail (depending on the urgency) and inform them of the Council's service requirements (for example journey details, if a passenger assistant is required, if the contractor is required to wait for the return);
- If the operator is available to provide the service they should immediately confirm the price (if we are placing an urgent order by phone), or within 24 hours if by email;
- They should also confirm the vehicle registration number, name of and date of birth of the driver and name of and date of birth of any required passenger assistant;
- Staff will check the listing of cleared vehicles/drivers/passenger assistants – to ensure compliance. If not listed, then they must contact CPCM to ensure that clearance has been recently been given (CPCM will update the listing with the 3 x business resource managers – children and families services on a monthly basis);
- If the price quoted is equal to or below the prices obtained from CPCM, based on the estimated journey time and length, and the staff/vehicles cleared then Authority will place a booking verbally (if urgent) or by e-mailing an order with the successful contractor in the format of the order form. (see Appendix 2: Transport Authorisation Risk and Order Form). Any verbal bookings MUST be followed up by e-mailing an order form;
- The successful operator shall insert their full name and the date on the order form as acceptance of the order and return the order form to the authority by email. This shall constitute the contract between the authority and the successful contractor for the services;
- The authority may send a risk assessment with the order form. The risk assessment will be sent out as a preference using egress secure email, or as an alternative, password protected email to the contractor and this should be shared with the driver and or passenger assistant as deemed necessary by the contractor to ensure that any identified risks involved with the transportation of a child or young person are managed appropriately;
- In the event the successful contractor does not comply with paragraph 9 above and return the order form in the time scale required by the authority (notified when the order form is issued to the contractor), or the contractor cannot undertake the services identified in the order form the authority may approach the next ranked contractor and offer the services to them;
- For the avoidance of doubt any contract awarded under this framework agreement shall constitute a standalone legal agreement between the authority and the successful contractor and shall be subject to the terms and conditions set out at Schedule 2 of this framework agreement and any specification issued with the order form.;
- If no operator on the relevant lot can accommodate the journey requirements, then another lot, in close geographical proximity, can be used. See 10.4 regarding arrangements for going off-framework
- It is recognised that due to the limited numbers of operators on the framework it may be necessary at times, to meet the needs of the business, to go off framework, in which case the following arrangements must be followed;
- When making a taxi booking with a company who are not on the framework staff need to obtain the name of the driver and escort from the company and contact by telephone the transport procurement team on: 01228 226441/ 01228 221707 or email via Procurement.transport@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk mailbox. The procurement team will run a check via the TRANMAN system to establish if the operator, driver and escort are approved for CCC journeys. If the details are not held on the TRANMAN system, alternative transport arrangements must be made or approval documented from a service manager or above, to approve deviation from these arrangements such as using another taxi firm who are not registered with the Council;
- Please note – for Out of Hours emergency transport arrangements – it will not be possible to make a TRANMAN check as the staff only work during office hours. Instead it has been agreed that the staff member making a booking must document that they have asked the company to confirm that any drivers/escorts used have been approved and authorised for Westmorland & Furness Council journeys including up to date DBS checks. This must be documented clearly on the transport request form for the child's file.
- It is recognised that in some instances, established relationships with volunteer drivers provide good value for money and flexibility for the Council. When using volunteer drivers, it is important that managers and staff adhere to the same principles set out in this document;
- DBS and vehicle checks relating to volunteer drivers must be passed to the transport procurement team to be hold on their central database;
- Following the introduction of the new framework for the use of taxis, volunteer drivers and escorts will be encouraged and supported to undertake the same safeguarding e-learning training provided by the LSCP.
It is important that in each area business support team leaders/BRMS ensure a monthly record of spend against each lot is maintained to allow the Council to monitor that agreed thresholds are not exceeded.
Payments to transport providers should only be made on receipt of an official invoice which is cross referenced to approved transport request forms and confirmation that the journey took place. Invoices should be certified for payment and forwarded to be paid as per council procedures.
Where petty cash is used to reimburse family members, staff should follow the directorate Cash Handling Procedures revised in September 2015. All relevant documents to support a claim by family members must be retained. Petty cash should not be paid into a company or individual's bank account.
All expenditure must be approved by a designated authoriser and budget holders should regularly discuss the budget position with those who are authorised to commit expenditure on their behalf per the scheme of delegation. Reimbursements to family members should be monitored by management to ensure best value.
Business support should ensure oversight of long standing arrangements is maintained to ensure payments and arrangements are appropriately ended as circumstances change.
Any cancellations or amendments must be notified as soon as possible to the taxi firm, to avoid unnecessary charge to the directorate. Where the taxi has already left the base, the directorate will be liable for cost recovery.
Parents can be assisted with travelling expenses to enable contact to go ahead. The social worker should submit a request for financial support to their manager with the reasons. Once the manager's approval has been given, the social worker should ask the administrative staff to arrange for the payments to be made or travel warrants to be issued. Receipts for travel should be obtained from parents in all cases before payments are made.
Children aged 10-17 who have been refused bail may be remanded to Local Authority Accommodation with or without conditions. Even if the child was not previously Looked After, they will become a Looked After Child when remanded.
Please see: Remands to Local Authority Accommodation or to Youth Detention Accommodation Procedure
Local authority support to the child and their family during this time is important, and efforts should be made to ensure that time on remand does not disrupt existing ties between the child and their community. Care planning should consider the young person's needs both during the period of remand and following the court hearing. The Care Plan will also need to consider arrangements for the young person's support should they be convicted and receive a custodial sentence.
Transport to placements should be undertaken by the Local Youth Offending Service in partnership with the allocated Social Worker. This will be based on a full Risk assessment taking place and appropriate liaison between the YOS Area Team Practice Manager and relevant Children's Service Team Manager.
Any deviation from any element of this policy, such as authorising the use of a taxi company not on the approved providers list, can only be done with the authorisation of a service manager, following assessment of all relevant risks, and must be noted clearly on the authorisation for transport form.
Last Updated: August 12, 2024
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