The Education (Assisted Places) (Incidental Expenses) Regulations 1997

PART III Travel grant

Interpretation

3.  In this Part—

• “school travel expenditure” in relation to an assisted pupil means, subject to regulations 5 to 8, the aggregate expenses incurred by him or on his behalf in respect of his journeys to and from the school—

  (a)

  by public transport, that is to say, by train, bus, boat, hovercraft or air services available to the public;

  (b)

  by transport provided pursuant to arrangements which, at the request of the school, are for the time being approved by the Secretary of State; or

  (c)

  by transport provided by a local education authority; and

• “travel grant” in relation to an assisted pupil means grant determined in accordance with regulation 4 and payable by a school pursuant to any of regulations 5 to 8 in respect of school travel expenditure.

Determination and payment of travel grant

4.—(1) Travel grant shall be determined in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) and may be paid on account in accordance with paragraph (5).

(2) The amount, if any, of travel grant for a school year payable in the case of an assisted pupil shall, subject to regulations 5 to 8, be determined by reference to—

(a) the school travel expenditure incurred in that year, and

(b) the relevant income as regards that pupil.

(3) Where the relevant income does not exceed £10,148, travel grant shall be of an amount equal to that of the school travel expenditure to which it relates.

(4) Where the relevant income exceeds £10,148, travel grant shall be of the amount, if any, by which the school travel expenditure to which it relates exceeds an amount (rounded down to the nearest multiple of £3) equal to one-twelfth of that part of the relevant income which exceeds £9,969.

(5) A school may, in the course of or immediately before a school year, make payments on account of travel grant which, it appears to them, will be payable for that year; but where payments on account are made then, within three months of the final determination of the amount (if any) of the grant, any over-payment or under-payment of grant for the year in question shall be adjusted by payments between the parents and the school.

Travel grant—boarding pupils

5.—(1) This regulation applies in the case of an assisted pupil who is a boarder at a school (other than a weekly boarder).

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the school shall, in respect of each school year, pay travel grant to the parents of an assisted pupil attending the school in relation to school travel expenditure reasonably incurred in respect of journeys made by the pupil in that year to or from his home or to visit a parent or guardian or other relative.

(3) The school shall not pay travel grant in respect of more than 12 single journeys by an assisted pupil, either to or from the school, in any school year, and in calculating the school travel expenditure—

(a) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys made by public transport and exceed the expenses that would have been incurred if advantage had been taken of available arrangements for reduced or concessionary fares, the excess shall be disregarded;

(b) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys by air and exceed the expenses that would have been incurred if advantage had been taken of—

(i) available train, boat or hovercraft services, and

(ii) any available arrangements for reduced or concessionary fares in relation to such services, the excess shall be disregarded;

(c) where the pupil visits a place other than his home, and his expenses exceed the amount which they would have been if the visit had been to his home, the excess shall be disregarded; and

(d) where a visit is to a place outside the British Islands, so much of the expenses as are in respect of a journey between a port, hoverport, airport or Channel Tunnel terminal within the British Islands and that place shall be disregarded.

(4) In paragraph (3)(d) “Channel Tunnel terminal” means any place where an assisted pupil boards a train or bus which goes through the Channel Tunnel.

Travel grant—weekly boarding pupils

6.—(1) This regulation applies in the case of an assisted pupil who is a weekly boarder at a school.

(2) Where the school is not within walking distance of the pupil’s home, the school shall, in each school year and subject to paragraph (3), pay travel grant to the parents of the pupil in relation to school travel expenditure reasonably incurred in respect of journeys made by the pupil between home and school in that year.

(3) In calculating the school travel expenditure—

(a) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys in excess of 80 kilometres each way by such transport as is mentioned in regulation 3, the school shall take into account only the following proportion of the expenses, that is the proportion that 80 kilometres bears to the length in kilometres of the journey in question; and

(b) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys by public transport and exceed the expenses that would have been incurred if advantage had been taken of available arrangements for season tickets or reduced or concessionary fares, the excess shall be disregarded.

(4) In this regulation and in regulation 7, “walking distance” means—

(a) in relation to a pupil who has not attained the age of 8 years, 3.2 kilometres, and

(b) in relation to a pupil who has attained that age, 4.8 kilometres,

in each case measured by the nearest available route.

Travel grant—day pupils

7.—(1) This regulation applies in the case of an assisted pupil who is a day pupil at a school.

(2) Where the school is not within walking distance of the pupil’s home, the school shall, in respect of each school year and subject to paragraph (3), pay travel grant to the parents of the pupil in relation to school travel expenditure reasonably incurred in respect of journeys made by the pupil between home and school in that year.

(3) In calculating the school travel expenditure,

(a) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys in excess of 40 kilometres each way by such transport as is mentioned in regulation 3 the school shall take into account only the following proportion of the expenses, that is the proportion that 40 kilometres bears to the length in kilometres of the journey in question; and

(b) where a pupil’s expenses are in respect of journeys by public transport and exceed the expenses that would have been incurred if advantage had been taken of available arrangements for season tickets or reduced or concessionary fares, the excess shall be disregarded.

Travel grant—visits to universities etc.

8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a school shall pay travel grant to the parents of an assisted pupil in respect of school travel expenditure reasonably incurred in relation to journeys made by the pupil in the school year within the British Islands for the purpose of visiting an institution of higher or further education at the invitation of the institution with a view to being admitted there for the purpose of further or higher education.

(2) A school shall not pay grant in respect of more than three such journeys from the school or from the pupil’s home to such an institution and three journeys from an institution to the school or to the pupil’s home in any school year.