What is a personal travel budget (PTB)?

A PTB is a payment designed to help you transport your child to and from school.

You can use the budget in any way you wish, to ensure your child attends school every day and is able to arrive on time and in a fit state to learn. For example, it can help towards covering the costs of running a family car or arranging with another member of the family or friends to assist with childcare enabling you to make the journey.

The payment is a fixed amount based on the proximity of your home to school, it bears no relationship to the cost of a taxi or contracted vehicle.

The advantages of a PTB are:

• Freedom to make your own arrangements to suit your family
• Control over how the money is spent and how your child is transported
• Your child may be more secure and relaxed during the journey and at school
• Flexibility to collect from after school clubs and other events and activities
• You can share the cost and save money by joining up with other parents
• No issues with delays to other passengers
• You could use the money to help your child become more independent

Apply

Applications can be made by:

• The parent, guardian or carer
• The service user themselves if they are over 18 years old.
• A nominated person acting on behalf of the applicant if agreed by the applicant and that nominated person has capacity.

Application form

When your application has been assessed, you will be informed of the decision in writing by email/letter. Your PTB will be reviewed on a regular basis and if you have not previously advised the team of a change of address or change of school for your child, the PTB may be withdrawn. When your child’s PTB is reviewed, the team review their attendance records to ensure that the level of attendance is satisfactory in order to continue your PTB.

Who can be considered for a PTB?

To be considered for a PTB children must be eligible for school transport assistance under the terms of Herefordshire Council’s Home to school travel assistance policy.

Personal Travel Budgets are granted at the discretion of the Local Authority where it is cost effective for the authority to do so.

If your child is eligible for school transport assistance, the we will investigate whether there is any transport currently in place that your child could be placed onto at no additional cost or where the cost of providing your child with transport assistance would be less than providing you with a PTB.

If suitable transport is available, you may not be granted a PTB and your child will be allocated a seat on the most appropriate mode of transport.

Where a child is already allocated suitable contracted transport, the Council may decide not to offer a PTB if that arrangement appropriately meets the child’s needs and represents best value.

Attendance will be taken into account when considering whether a PTB should be awarded, continued or varied. Poor attendance may be a relevant factor but will not automatically result in refusal or withdrawal; the Council will consider the reasons for absence and any relevant individual circumstances.

You may be refused a PTB if your child's attendance is currently below 90% (this means 38 half day sessions or 19 full days in a school year).

How much would I receive?

The amount of money that is awarded is based on the distance between your home and the school your child attends. Many available maps and internet based measuring tools will give you an indication of the distance from your home to your child’s school, but this is only an indication. The Council’s own measuring software is used to determine this. For fairness and consistency, the same software is used for all applications.

In accordance with Herefordshire Council’s home to school travel assistance policy, a parental contribution towards the cost of school transport assistance is required for students aged between 16 and 19. The annual contribution amount will be deducted from your child's PTB allowance.

There are distance bands that apply to PTB payments and different rates for SEN and Mainstream transport. To qualify for the SEN transport rates your child must have an education, health and care plan (EHCP).

Mainstream transport

SEN transport

*Payments for Hazardous Routes will be assessed on a case by case basis and may be paid at a lower rate

How will I receive the money?

The money we’ve agreed will be paid each month directly into a bank account that you nominate.

How long will I receive a PTB for?

We may review PTBs periodically and at any time if relevant circumstances change, including but not limited to home address, school placement, transport availability, safeguarding concerns, attendance, or compliance with the PTB conditions. Where the Council proposes to vary, suspend or withdraw a PTB, it will normally give reasonable notice, except where immediate action is necessary for safeguarding, fraud, material misrepresentation, unlawful use, or serious breach of conditions.

If your child’s attendance at school is not sufficient to continue paying you a PTB or where there is more cost effective transport in place, the PTB may be withdrawn. If this should happen, you will be given 28 days notice.

Your PTB will cease if at anytime your child becomes no longer eligible for school transport assistance under the terms of Herefordshire Council’s home to school travel assistance policy.

Will the amount I get paid change?

The PTB amount may be reviewed, adjusted, suspended or terminated if:

• Your child’s attendance falls below 90%
• Your child regularly arrives late at school in the mornings
• Your child arrives at school in an unfit state to learn
• The travel arrangements that have been put in place for your child using the PTB are deemed to be unsuitable or unsafe
• Your child accesses short break stays away from the family home
• There is a change to national legislation and / or the council’s policies
• You have more than one child, e.g. sibling, half-sibling or step-sibling or other member of the same household each receiving a PTB and attending the same school or another school nearby
• Your child enters post 16 education as you may be required to make a financial contribution. Transport for 16-19 year olds.
• Your circumstances, such as home address or child's school change.

My circumstances have changed, what should I do?

You must email or write to the passenger transport team, to notify of any change of circumstances that may affect your eligibility to transport assistance and/or your PTB payment, for example:

• If you move address or change school or school site
• Change of timetable that affects your child’s school hours
• Long term absences (5 consecutive school days or more)

If a PTB is overpaid or paid in error, or if payments were made for a period when the child was not entitled to receive them, the Council may recover those sums in accordance with law and after considering the circumstances of the case.

If you are unsure about whether a change of circumstances will affect the PTB payments, you are advised to discuss this with the Passenger transport team.

Any travel arrangements, until your child has been reassessed, will be the parent’s responsibility to arrange.

Safeguarding and safety

The safety and welfare of the child is paramount.

• The Council may refuse, suspend or withdraw a PTB where travel arrangements are considered unsafe or inappropriate.
• Parents and carers remain responsible for ensuring that any arrangements they make are safe, suitable, and lawful.
• The Council may request evidence to support arrangements, including (but not limited to):
• driver suitability;
• vehicle safety and insurance;
• suitability of any third-party carers or transport providers.

The provision of a PTB does not replace, reduce, or discharge the Council’s duties under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or any other safeguarding obligations.

What can I use a PTB for?

You can use a personal travel budget, in a way that ensures your child’s attendance at school, for example:

• You or a responsible person can drive, cycle, walk your child to and from school
• You can car share with other parents where their children are going to the same school as your child
• You could provide a relative or friend with a bus pass in order to take your child to and from school
• You could pay for a bus pass on a vehicle that the school organises to take children to and from their school
• You could pay for childcare for a younger child in order for you to take your child to school

If you use the PTB to employ someone yourself, then you will be responsible for complying with relevant rules regarding Tax and National Insurance, Employment Law, Insurance, Health and Safety or any other relevant rules or legislation in force at that time. 
 
The council always recommends that you have a check carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) on anyone that you are thinking of employing.

If you use the PTB to enter into contracts with organisations (e.g. after school clubs) or individuals: you are responsible for complying with the terms and conditions of those contracts, e.g. payment arrangements, notice of cancellation, etc.

The council advises you to seek your own independent legal advice as to the terms of the agreement that you may be entering into and any obligations that are placed on you.

Where parents or carers use a PTB to make their own transport arrangements:

• The Council is not a party to any private agreement or contract entered into using the PTB.
• Parents and carers are responsible for:
• ensuring arrangements are safe, lawful, and appropriate;
• complying with relevant legal requirements (including insurance, employment law, and tax obligations);
• managing contractual terms, disputes, or liabilities arising from such arrangements.

Nothing in this guidance limits any liability that the Council may have under law; however, responsibility for privately arranged transport rests with the parent or carer.

You cannot use your payment:

• To buy or utilise a space on school transport services from Herefordshire Council
• For any purpose that does not enable you to get your child to or from school
• For any activity that is illegal, unlawful or unsafe
• For other purposes that may bring the council into disrepute

Although you have control of the payments, the money can be reclaimed by the council if it is not used in accordance with this guidance.

If you are granted a PTB, you may wish to discuss this with your child’s school as they may be in a position to put you in touch with other parents who also receive a PTB. You could look into working collectively to ensure the best use of the PTB for all of the children and families. You must spend the money in a way that ensures your child can get to school.

Notice, review, and appeals

Review and variation

The Council may review PTBs:

• at regular intervals (at least annually);
• where there is a change in circumstances; or
• where concerns arise (including attendance, safety, or suitability).

The Council may vary, suspend or withdraw a PTB by giving reasonable notice, unless immediate action is required (for example in cases involving safeguarding, fraud, or serious breach of conditions).

Appeals process

If you are dissatisfied with a decision relating to a PTB, find details of how to appeal.

Frequently asked questions