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Report to:
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Audit
Committee
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Date of
meeting:
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21 November
2025
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By:
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Director of
Communities, Economy and Transport and Director of Children’s
Services
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Title:
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Response to Internal
Audit Report and Actions – Home to School
Transport
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Purpose:
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To update the Audit
Committee on the Home to School Transport Audit Action Plan.
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The Audit Committee is
recommended to:
(1)
note the good
practice identified in the audit report; and
(2)
note the
significant progress made within the Audit Action Plan (Appendix
1), with all outstanding actions on track to be completed in
Quarter 3 2025/26.
1
Background Information
1.1.
An internal audit of Home to School Transport (HTST) was undertaken
in May 2025, at the request of the Corporate Management Team (CMT),
following financial reporting during 2024/25 that predicted the
HTST budget would be overspent by more than £4.7m, against
the budget of £23.8m. This report provides an update in
relation to the actions being undertaken by the HTST teams
following the Quarter 1 Internal Audit progress report to the
Committee on 19 September 2025.
1.2.
The Department for Education provides statutory guidance to Local
Authorities setting out requirements to provide HTST for eligible
children in the authority’s area to facilitate their
attendance at school. Eligibility for HTST is determined by
Children’s Services Department (CSD), which holds the HTST
budget, with service delivery administered by the Communities,
Economy and Transport (CET) Department.
1.3.
The purpose of the audit was to provide assurance that controls are
in place to meet the following objectives:
·
Clear and effective governance arrangements to ensure that only
eligible children and young people are provided with Home to School
Transport, are provided with transport in accordance with their
assessed needs and deliver the service within budget.
·
Effective procurement results in contracts for the provision of
home to school transport that deliver value for money; and
·
Robust contract management arrangements to deliver the full value
for money offered by contracts.
1.4.
Internal Audit teams found that there were no fundamental
weaknesses in control that have resulted in the overspend, and that
the overspend was primarily driven by an increase in demand and
costs, noting an increase in the complexity of children eligible
for transport.
1.5.
Partial Assurance was provided as the opinion for the audit, as
examples of non-compliance with policies and weaknesses in
processes to secure value for money were found. The report also
identified areas of good practice which have also formed part of
the services’ operational review, to build on these strengths
to support and deliver assurance for the areas of improvement.
2
Supporting Information
Areas of good practice
2.
2.1.
The areas of good practice which were identified included:
·
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP), which include assessments
of eligibility for HTST, are approved by the relevant panel.
·
Needs assessments are carried out to identify individual transport
requirements, e.g., the need for an escort or medical support which
informs accurate tendering.
·
Controls are in place to check suppliers’ invoices and to
challenge and correct inaccuracies before they are paid.
·
Regular exception reports are run to monitor suppliers’
performance.
·
A project was initiated by CSD and CET to review and control Home
to School Transport costs with the aim of mitigating increasing
expenditure where possible.
2.2.
These areas of good practice demonstrate a shared responsibility to
delivering East Sussex County Council (ESCC)’s statutory
duty, alongside a commitment to closely monitoring and reviewing
expenditure. As part of regular quality assurance, quarterly
finance updates to CMT via the HTST Board are provided, alongside
updates regarding current route optimisation and future cost
avoidance activities. The aim of these updates is to maintain
transparency and awareness of continued pressures and actively
reduce the rate of increase in expenditure where possible.
Areas for
improvement
2.3.
There were 11 areas identified within the audit for improvement
which highlighted the need to:
·
Define more clearly the respective roles and responsibilities of
the CSD and CET Departments, including by the provision of a
Service Level Agreement (SLA) or similar, and updating the terms of
reference of the HTST Board;
·
Strengthen guidance available for officers to promote a consistent
and robust approach to applying the Council’s HTST
Policy;
·
Review the budget settling process to ensure that the budget is set
on the most up-to-date and realistic basis, including an analysis
of demand;
·
Ensure that the procurement of new routes complies with the
Council’s Procurement and Contract Standing Orders; and
·
Expedite the process to the recovering of costs incurred for
transporting children placed in East Sussex schools by other
authorities.
2.4.
Since the action plan was agreed with CSD and CET officers,
significant progress has been made against delivery. This progress
has been made during the peak time of year for HTST, as the annual
process commenced in June 2025 for teams to deliver all eligible
children school transport ahead of the new academic year. Despite
this seasonal peak in operational activity, teams have successfully
completed 7 out of the 11 actions identified, with a further 2
actions on track for completion by the end of November 2025. All
actions within the action plan will be completed by the end of
Quarter 3 2025/26.
2.5.
Appendix 1 details the progress update which has been used by the
HTST Board during both Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 to monitor activity.
As at 21 October 2025, 4 actions were presented to the Board as on
track, but not yet complete. These were:
·
The creation of all operational guidance for CET HTST team
·
An update of the HTST Policy
·
Budgeting for unrealised income
·
The monitoring of Personal Transport Budgets (PTBs).
2.6.
Whilst these actions are not yet complete, good progress has been
made in all 4 areas to deliver these actions by the end of Quarter
3. Activity has been undertaken to document all CET procedures, an
updated draft of the HTST Policy has been prepared, revised
forecasts are being undertaken to inform 2026/27 budget setting as
well as a shared action to strengthen PTB monitoring. Detailed
progress updates have been provided in Appendix 1 for the Committee
to note alongside revised deadlines for completion.
3 Conclusion and Reasons for
Recommendations
3.
3.1.
The actions identified within the internal audit report have been
consistently progressed since May 2025, during the peak time for
CSD and CET school transport services. Seven actions have been
delivered, with 4 in progress, 2 of which will be completed by the
end of November 2025, with the final 2 actions on track to be
completed by the end of Quarter 3.
3.2.
Areas of good practice identified within the audit demonstrate a
strong shared responsibility to deliver ESCC’s statutory
duty, alongside a commitment to closely monitor and review
expenditure. Quarterly finance updates to CMT via the HTST Board
will continue to be provided, and the HTST Board will continue to
monitor delivery of the Audit Action Plan in Appendix 1.
3.3.
The Audit Committee is therefore recommended to note the good
practice identified in the audit report and to note the significant
progress made within the Audit Action Plan (Appendix 1), with all
outstanding actions on track to be completed in Quarter 3
2025/26.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
CAROLYN
FAIR
Director of Children’s
Services
Contact Officer: Sam
McManus, Head of Transport and Operational Services
Tel. No. 01273 482080
Email: Samantha.mcmanus@eastsussex.gov.uk
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BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
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