Consultation on Assisted Travel for children and young people closes soon

18 December 2025

Promotional graphic with a blue background featuring white text that reads 'Share your thoughts on Assisted Travel' alongside a simple line drawing of a van.

If you’ve not taken part in the Assisted Travel consultation yet, make sure you have your say before the survey closes on Sunday 4 January.

The survey asks for your views on changes to two important policies:

Home to School Transport for children aged 5 to 16
Post-16 Transport Statement for older children and young people

These policies explain how the council supports pupils who find it hard to get to school or college without help. They haven’t been updated for many years, and now we need your input to make sure they meet the needs of families today.

Why are we reviewing them?

Costs for Home to School Transport are rising – £12.5 million for 2024/25 and expected to increase
Shortage of transport providers, suitable vehicles, and qualified drivers across the country
We want to reduce environmental impact and make services sustainable

At the same time, we want to use savings to help more young people travel independently. A key aim of changing the policies is to enable Wirral Council to fund more Independent Travel Training – one-to-one support that teaches young people with additional needs the skills and confidence to use public transport on their own. We’re also asking for views on pick-up points, where some pupils could be collected from central locations like bus stops.

Currently, around 2,200 children and young people use council transport – about 1,900 aged up to 16 and 230 aged 16 and over. Your feedback will help us shape modern services that support those who need it most and give young people the chance to grow and thrive.

The consultation is open until Sunday 4 January 2026. All Wirral residents can take part.

I'm already receiving transport, how will this affect me?

Any changes agreed as a result of the consultation will not affect anyone currently receiving transport or a travel pass while they remain in their current school or college course. If changes are approved, they will start from September 2026.