The Department for Education have published information about transport:
Guidance for dedicated transport to schools and other places of education for autumn term 2020
Dedicated transport to schools and other places of education often carries the same group of children or young people on a regular basis. They do not mix with the general public on those journeys. This helps limit the number of other people with whom they come into contact.
This guidance aims to help those responsible for the provision of dedicated transport to put in place proportionate safeguards to further minimise the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).
It applies to all dedicated transport to schools and other places of education, whether on the public network or procured by the local authority, schools or parent groups. These are services which exclusively carry children and young people travelling to their place of education, including mainstream and special schools, colleges and alternative provision settings. This includes transport:
- commissioned or provided by local authorities, whether or not the service is provided free of charge
- commissioned or provided by schools or other places of education
- provided by transport operators (commercial travel routes) that cannot be used by members of the public when it is carrying children to school or other places of education
Vehicles that provide transport to members of the public at other times are considered to be providing dedicated transport when they are exclusively carrying children and young people travelling to school and other places of education.
Most dedicated transport is organised by local authorities. However, this guidance also applies to:
- schools and other places of education, where they commission transport for children and young people
- transport operators, where they provide transport directly to children without being commissioned by the school or local authority
In this guidance, the term ‘home to school transport’ includes dedicated transport to other places of education such as further education colleges.
We have developed this guidance with advice from Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). We will keep it under review and update as necessary.
Where something is essential for public health reasons, as advised by PHE, we have said ‘must’.
Key points
Local authorities remain under a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all eligible children of compulsory school age. They also remain under a duty to publish a transport statement detailing what travel assistance they will provide for young people aged over 16.
Those involved in the provision of home to school transport must do all that is reasonably practicable to maximise social distancing where possible and minimise the risk of transmission. What is practicable is likely to vary according to local circumstances.
Local authorities, working with schools, places of education and transport operators as necessary, should:
- identify the risks arising from coronavirus (COVID-19)
- work through the system of controls set out in this guidance
- adopt measures in a way that addresses the identified risk, works in the local circumstances, and enables children and young people to attend their school or place of education
As set out in the guidance for full opening for schools, for special schools, and for places of further education, from the autumn term local authorities will not be required to uniformly apply the social distancing guidelines for public transport on dedicated school or college transport. However, the full opening for schools guidance also sets out that distancing should still be put in place within vehicles wherever possible.
It is of vital importance to work through the steps set out in this guidance. In particular:
- social distancing should be maximised within vehicles wherever it is possible, between individuals or ‘bubbles’
- it is very important to maximise the ventilation of fresh air (from outside the vehicle) on dedicated school and college transport, particularly through opening windows and ceiling vents
It is now the law that children and young people aged 11 and over must wear a face covering on public transport. This law does not apply to dedicated school transport. However, we recommend that local authorities advise people aged 11 and over to wear a face covering when travelling on dedicated school transport to secondary school or college from the start of the autumn term. This does not apply to those who are exempt from wearing a face covering on public transport. For more detail, see 5. Minimising contact and mixing.
We believe this is an appropriate balance, because:
- the overall risk to children and young people of serious illness as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) is very low
- they do not mix with the general public on those journeys
- home to school transport often carries the same group of children and young people on a regular basis, and they may also be together in school or college
- the predictability of home to school transport will allow for planning so that protective measures can be put in place
There is more information available and you can read the full details here: Dedicated transport for Autumn term
