Draft Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy 2023

Overview

What is a Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy?

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires all Local Authorities to produce an annual Sustainable Mode of Travel to School Strategy (SMOTS) and for these strategies to be produced and published by mid-September. The legacy strategy is the 2015 Northamptonshire SMOTS.

In preparing a SMOTS, the Act sets out that the strategy should be formed from an assessment of the travel and transport needs of children and young people and an audit of the sustainable infrastructure that may be used when travelling to and from or between schools / institutions.  Furthermore, the strategy should set out how sustainable travel and transport infrastructure will be developed and promoted and supported by an action plan identifying priorities, timescales and resources.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has drafted a proposed SMOTS, which is being named as a Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy.

NNC’s draft Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy 2023 will:

• Increase active and sustainable travel
• Strengthen relationship with school community
• Improve health outcomes for children and young people
• Meet our statutory requirement

Advantages of developing a Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy

• Opportunity to develop a new NNC vision for children and young people
• Children and young people can improve their health and wellbeing through sustainable travel
• Opportunities to work with the Healthy School's Team and undertaking a holistic approach to health and wellbeing
• Developing school travel plans to understand local need, challenges and opportunities
• Developing a new strategy enables a broad approach to active travel, looking at different modes of travel
• Opportunity to establish relationships with public transport providers to improve the experience of children and young people
• Opportunity to establish an independent travel training programme

In early 2023, the Council conducted a consultation exercise seeking views on the Council’s proposed Home to School policy changes and options affecting discretionary transport. As part of this consultation, we asked the community for their view of possible travel options for the journey to school. The views shared have informed then Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy.

What we have considered in developing this strategy:

• Northamptonshire’s Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy 2014
• Northamptonshire’s Travel Demand Management Strategy 2021
• School Census 2021
• National Child Measurement Programme to school level
• School Catchment Assessment
• Home to School bus pass information 2023
• Corby – School Travel Survey 2022
• Home to school consultation response evaluation
• Active life survey
• Greenways Strategy

The draft strategy has also been considered by Executive via a report at their meeting held on 14 September 2023, where they approved the recommendation to proceed to public consultation. Following feedback, the strategy will be reviewed and updated and brought back to Executive for adoption at their meeting scheduled on 21 December 2023.

The Proposal

This consultation seeks your views on the proposal to implement the Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy with North Northamptonshire educational establishments including nursery schools.

Have your say

We want to hear the views of parents/guardians, students, partners, residents, stakeholders, interest groups and businesses on the draft strategy. Please tell us your views by completing this questionnaire. All views submitted during the representation period will be considered, including all support for, objections to, and comments on the proposal.

Your feedback will be part of a report with many other people’s feedback, so you will not be personally identified.

You can also access this online questionnaire free of charge at any North Northamptonshire Council library. Customers are asked to check the opening times of the library you wish to visit and book an appointment in advance. Please see the Library website or telephone 0300 126 3000 to check times and make a booking.

Alternatively, you can email or send your comments in by post by using the contact details below.

If you have any queries, comments or would like a copy of this questionnaire in another format (including paper, easy to read or large print) please contact us.

Email address: marsha.brown@northnorthants.gov.uk

Postal address:
North Northamptonshire Council
Consultation: Sustainable Travel to Education Strategy
Bowling Green Road
Kettering, NN15 7QX

This consultation will run from Monday 18 September 2023 to midnight on Monday 30 October 2023.

Thank you for helping us by completing this questionnaire.

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice