The cost to Durham County Council (DCC) of home-to-school (H2S) transport is increasing rapidly and that will lead to it looking to grow competition for contracts, the local authority (LA) has said. It follows DCC’s decision to up its H2S budget for 2023/24 by £9.6 million to cover rising costs and demand.
DCC contracts H2S travel for 9,000 young people. In 2022/23 that will overspend £4.8 million against a budget of £19.5 million. A further increase of the same amount is expected in 2023/24.
PSVAR is a factor in rising H2S expenditure alongside fuel costs, wages and inflation, DCC says. £1.3 million of the 2023/24 budget uplift is to reflect what DCC says is a “standard 5% price increase assumption” with the remaining £8.3 million to cover growing demand and other costs.
The LA now plans to consult on changes to H2S delivery that could deliver savings. They were developed following a review in 2021.
Many of those proposals capture SEND transport. DCC does not expect to stop selling all spare seats on other vehicles to students who are not entitled to free transport. But it wants to increase charges for them, because part of that arrangement incurs a per-annum financial loss of “over £250,000.”
DCC also plans to review H2S procurement options “in relation to increasing value for money.” That will involve assessing options to develop the supply base further to expand competition and “deliver better value.”
The comments around increasing competition for tenders are contained in a report on the consultation that will go before the DCC Cabinet on 8 February. Adoption of the proposals within the consultation would bring DCC “more into line with similar councils,” says Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services Cllr Ted Henderson.
