Transport assistance is only available to students who live in Suffolk and whose parents or guardians pay their council tax to a district or borough council in Suffolk.

If Suffolk County Council has any spare seats on contracted vehicles that are not used by children who qualify for free transport, these may be available to be purchased under the Discretionary Travel Scheme. The scheme operated in Suffolk can provide assistance to children, who do not otherwise qualify for free travel, by using spare seats on journeys the county council has arranged specifically for children entitled to free travel. However, this scheme does not extend to the offer of seats on public transport journeys or to other vehicles that have not been hired as a whole to carry out school transport journeys solely for the county council.

Parents whose children do not otherwise qualify for free home-to-school transport who would like them to travel on the transport should register an expression of interest which will then be forwarded to Passenger Transport to assess if there is spare capacity.

Where the offer of a seat can be made, this expression of interest will be confirmed, following completion of an application form, soon after the end of that term. Travel is conditional on the parents/carers accepting the terms and conditions of the offer and making a termly contribution toward the cost of the transport. A lower rate charge is made for shorter journeys to a catchment school, and a higher rate for journeys to non catchment schools.

From September 2011 

• The lower rate charge will be £150 per child per term
• The higher rate charge will be £190 per child per term
• Children who are resident in Suffolk who already receive exemption from the charges will continue to do so if their parents/carers are in receipt of income support; income based job seekers allowance; tax credit (in some cases); an NHS exemption certificate, or their residual income when certain living expenses have been taken into account, falls below a given threshold.
• Children who have not previously been exempt from the charges will only be entitled to exemption if their family is in receipt of free school meals, income support, income based job seekers allowance or working tax credit at the maximum level. 
• Only a maximum of two children in any family are charged; third and subsequent children are exempt from the charge.

In all cases full terms and conditions of the discretionary travel scheme and the payment and exemption arrangements are set out when the offer of a seat on transport being arranged by the county council is confirmed.

Register an interest in discretionary transport (external).

Pay for your bus pass (external).

View the terms and conditions for discretionary travel (PDF 47KB).

Contact

For more information on Suffolk County Council home-to-school transport policies and the services provided call 0845 606 6173.