Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the use by local authorities of Road Safety GB’s Assessment of Walked Routes to Schools Guidelines when determining eligibility for free home-to-school travel.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing route safety to determine whether a child is eligible for free home to school travel. This includes deciding how they will assess route safety.

Some authorities use the Assessment of Walked Routes to Schools guidelines published by Road Safety GB. These provide advice to local authorities on assessing the risk posed to pedestrians by traffic. Our statutory guidance for local authorities is clear that the guidelines can form the basis from which to develop a route safety assessment, but they are not a complete assessment on their own. Further details on the guidance are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel.

Local authorities will need to consider the whole of the route including any sections that use footpaths or bridleways, as well as sections that use roads.