Hampshire civic chiefs are proposing a public consultation over again increasing parent contributions to the Post-16 transport service.

The proposed increase based on annual inflation would affect 24% of children currently using the service.

The county council serves 13,500 children and young people daily.

Although parental contributions rose by 27.1% in May, the proposal to increase annual charges comes after the council faces severe financial pressure with a budget gap of £132 million for 2025/26.

Currently, the council’s school transport service costs have risen to more than £50 million a year in 2022/23, 47% more than in previous years when spending reached £34 million.

Now, the council proposes increasing parental contributions to Post-16 transport arrangements in line with inflation from September 2024, with inflation-linked increases applied in the following years.

If approved after the public consultation, the changes will be applied from September 2024 in line with the inflation rate for March 2024 and then annually each September, based on the CPI rate in March every year.

The policy will still enable parents or carers with low incomes, those receiving certain benefits, or whose children receive free school meals to waive their parental contribution charges in the academic year 2024/25. Moreover, families with extraordinary circumstances can apply for a discretionary waiver or a reduction in parental contributions.

In 2022/23, about 76.7% of eligible Post 16 students were not required to make a parental contribution.

Also, the County Council will seek permission to consult on proposals to make its School Transport Policy more flexible and responsive to children’s needs.

This includes the proposed introduction of Personal Transport Budgets for families with children whose needs cannot be met effectively by local transport operators.

Other proposals include the development of an Independent Travel Training offer to support a small number of children to travel independently and the regular review of Passenger Assistants (PAs), who accompany eligible children with additional needs on their journeys, to ensure that the right support continues to be in the right place.

The consultation is proposed to last for 35 working days during term time, from October 30, 2023, to December 15, 2023.

The consultation will be published on the County Council’s website at hants.gov.uk.

If the proposal for a public consultation gets the go-ahead from the County Council’s Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Edward Heron, next Thursday (October 19), more details will be provided.