Item 11 - School Transport
West Dunbartonshire Council · 24 June 2026
Back to Educational Services Committee — 24 June 2026 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Chief Education Officer Education Services Committee - 24 June 2026 Subject: School Transport 1 Purpose 1.1 This report details for Members the timetable for the processing of tenders for mainstream home-to-school contracts and for the transportation of pupils with Additional Support Needs (ASN) from school session 2026/27 to session 2208/29. Procurement of contracts is supported by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). 2 Recommendations 2.1 To meet statutory requirements and Council policy, it is necessary to secure contracts for school transport for session 2026/2027. The process requires to follow a tight timetable. Unfortunately, the change in date for this Education committee required us to take action outwith standard procedures. 2.2 Committee is asked to: i) Note that the Chief Education Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Procurement Unit, the Committee Chair, the Section 95 Officer and Chief Executive, authorised the necessary arrangements to commence and award tenders for the transport of children with Additional Support Needs for session 2026/2027 and beyond for contracts of up to 3 years duration with the option to extend for a further 12 months; ii) Note that the Chief Education Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Procurement Unit, the Committee Chair, the Section 95 Officer and Chief Executive, authorised the award of mainstream contracts for session 2026/2027 and beyond for contracts up to 3 years duration. 3 Background 3.1 The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 requires Education Authorities to make appropriate provision to assist pupils with accessing education. The Act requires that free transport be provided for all pupils up to the age of 8 who live more than 2 miles from their local school and to pupils over the age of 8 who live more than 3 miles from their local school. ITEM 11
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3.2 The policy presently operated by West Dunbartonshire Council provides free home-to-school transport for primary school children who live more than 1 mile from their local school and for secondary school children who live more than 2 miles from their local school. 3.3 Presently, we also provide transport for young people in the Senior Phase attending courses offered by our partner providers – Colleges in Clydebank and Glasgow. SPT and Internal Transport assist in providing some transport for this service as well as some external resource for smaller individual contracts. 3.4 The Education Authority is also required to make provision for pupils with Additional Support Needs to attend a school to meet their requirements. Presently, our approach is that, following the outcome of a ‘Team Around the Child’ meeting, transport may be requested for a child to attend school. Depending on the needs of the child, this could take the form of shared transportation or individual transportation with or without an escort. 3.5 In recent years, meeting this provision has become increasingly problematic. The rise in the number of children requiring transport; the increase in challenges or needs of individuals; coupled with the reduction in the ability of the market to meet this provision presented significant problems. It became the norm to advertise contracts multiple times as there were no bidders through the existing framework. Where bids were received, costs were high, prompting the department to review options in order to achieve best value. Challenges remain with a further reduction in Contractors and a rise in the complexity of individual pupil circumstances. 3.6 For a small number of cases, it has not been possible to secure transport, resulting in parental expenses being offered to families to transport their child to school, whilst we continue to pursue suitable solutions and/or work with schools to reintegrate pupils into existing transport contracts. 3.7 Internal Transport currently provides transportation for children to Cunard School, Choices School, Kilpatrick School, Renton Leven Base, Riverside School, St Kessog’s Lomond Base and Vale of Leven Communication Base, in addition to a small number of ASN pupils to our high schools. Next session will see this increase to include St Joseph’s Rainbow Base and further increase in capacity to Renton Leven Base and Riverside School. Additionally, a further number of smaller individual routes are also being considered where availability allows and meets pupil needs. 3.8 Where Internal Transport cannot meet the service needs, only then providers on the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) are approached to bid for contracts. This allows the taxi resource to be best utilised where the need requires, or for our provision of children travelling outside the local authority for their school placement.
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3.9 With a reduction in central staffing, we needed to address the workload that provision of home to school transport entails. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport continues to assist WDC via their DPS procurement procedures, making it possible for SPT to undertake some of this work on our behalf. Local operators were advised in this regard. 3.10 Timing of work and demand can be problematic. By its very nature, workload can be subject to peaks and troughs that are not predictable. ‘Team Around the Child’ meetings take place throughout the session, and the needs of individual children change – on occasion, so too can the school they attend, resulting in change to contracts that are already established. We propose a more manageable approach, determining a timetable of procurement activity, with parental expenses being offered as an interim or in some cases, a longer term solution. A timetabled approach would bulk procurement tasks together within a framework meaning adverts would be placed monthly or termly based on quantity, helping the industry plan and adapt to our needs in a more timely manner, but ensuring parents were recompensed with expenses in the intervening time, where necessary, it took us to establish a transport provision should this be required. 4 Main Issues 4.1 To address the Council’s requirements, the following stages and timescales were required: a) May 2026 – Report to Educational Services Committee seeking appropriate approvals; and b) June 2026 – Contractors and SPT to be informed of the outcome of the tendering process, with families being informed of arrangements for the session 2026/27. 4.2 With the meeting of the Education committee moving from May to June, it was not possible to adhere to the timeline above. As such, delegated authority to deviate from Standing Orders and Financial Regulations was sought. After consultation with the Chief Officer Legal and Regulatory, the Section 95 Officer, the Chief Executive and the Convenor of Educational Services committee, the Chief Education Officer proceeded with the necessary arrangements to secure tenders for the transport of children with Additional Support Needs for session 2026/2027 and beyond for contracts of up to 3 years duration with the option to extend for a further 12 months. 4.3 In respect of mainstream contracts, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport act as agent for West Dunbartonshire Council in securing contracts. This provides transport for children and young people attending our mainstream secondary schools, and 8 of our primary schools where the home to school distance exceeds the safe walking distance. It should be further noted that the duration of mainstream contracts can vary from 1 year up to 3 years across all contracts.
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4.5 Due to the change in date for the Education Committee, it was not possible to adhere to the timeline shown above in section 4.1. As such, delegated authority to deviate from Standing Orders and Financial Regulations was sought. After consultation with the Chief Officer Legal and Regulatory, the Section 95 Officer, the Chief Executive and the Convenor of Educational Services committee, the Chief Education Officer proceeded with the necessary arrangements in liaison with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to renew any mainstream contracts for session 2026/2027 and beyond for contracts up to 3 years duration. 4.6 It is regrettable that it wasn’t possible to adhere to the timeline noted in 4.1 above. To prevent any potential reoccurrence in the future, Officers will bring transport procurement papers to an earlier committee meeting, to ensure adequate time for Council Officers and SPT to undertake activities. 5 People Implications 5.1 There are no direct people implications arising from this report. 6 Financial & Procurement Implications 6.1 For session 2026/2027, it will be necessary to secure ASN transportation contracts at an estimated cost of £1,533,422 per annum (split between WDC schools, and external day and residential provision) and Senior Phase school transport contracts at a further estimated cost of £23,000. This cost can be accommodated within the allocated budget. Costs for ASN transport will be split between Internal Transport provision and contracts awarded through a procurement framework. Within the above costs, approx. 30 ASN contracts are required to be sourced externally at a cost of £482,410k per annum. This covers a range of contracts with 1-to-3-year duration. One contract is to be readvertised where no bids have been received. There may also be subsequent mid-year requests for new transport arrangements for pupils that cannot be accommodated within existing contracts. 6.2 For session 2026/2027, the estimated cost received from SPT based on the current mainstream school contracts is £942,706 per annum. This cost is above our estimated budget of £816,356 by £126,350. Within these costs, 4 contracts are due for renewal at a cost of £108k per annum ranging from 2 to 3 year duration. Costs are higher than anticipated due to present market volatility relating to rising fuel costs and the impact of the war in the Middle East. 6.3 All procurement activity carried out by the Council in excess of £50,000 is subject to contract strategy. The contract strategy for Additional Support Needs Contracts was produced by the Corporate Procurement Unit in close consultation with Education Learning and Attainment. The contract strategy included but was not limited to; contract scope, service forward plan, the market, procurement model and routes – including existing delivery vehicles, roles and responsibilities, risks, issues and opportunities and on-going contract management. The contract strategy is provided as Appendix A.
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6.4 The Additional Support Needs Contracts will contribute to delivery of the Council strategic priorities through the development of a robust contract strategy which will explore the inclusion of possible community benefits. 6.5 Further opportunities to maximise the positive social, economic and environmental impact for West Dunbartonshire Council through the contract will also be explored, via the use of Community Benefit Clauses included within the tender. 7 Risk Analysis 7.1 If timescales for tendering are met, there is no identified risk to the service in relation to this issue. 7.2 Due to current market volatility, there is a risk that tenders may exceed current estimates due to projected fuel costs. We anticipate that future tender costs will be higher. 8 Equalities Impact Assessment 8.1 An Equalities Impact Assessment has been carried out. The assessment demonstrates that the school transport arrangements promote equality in terms of access to education for pupils. 9 Consultation 9.1 Procurement, Legal, Democratic and Regulatory Services and Section 95 Officer have been consulted on the content of this paper. 10 Strategic Assessment 10.1 High quality school transport contracts contribute to the Council’s strategic priority of our residents being supported to increase life and learning skills, as part of communities that are resilient and thriving. Chief Officer: Gillian Hamilton Service Area: Education Date: 9 June 2026 _____________________________________________________________ Person to Contact: Andrew Brown andrew.brown@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: Appendix A - Contract Strategy Background Papers: None Wards Affected: All
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