Home to School PSVAR compliance after July 2025
Case reference FOI2025/01660
Received 18 August 2025
Published 13 October 2025
Request
Concerning home-to-school transport services involving passengers not entitled to free transport:
1. Exempt Vehicle Usage
When was the last time a PSVAR-exempt vehicle was used on such services? Please specify provider, route(s), and date.
2. Eliminating Exempt Vehicles
What contractual measures or guidance have you implemented to ensure exempt vehicles are no longer used on these particular trips?
3. PSVAR-Compliant Fleet Share
Of the vehicles deployed on these specific non-entitled passenger services, how many (number and percentage) are fully PSVAR-compliant?
How do you ensure that companies providing home to school services have the requisite number and proportion of fully PSVAR compliant vehicles as required from 1st August 2025 depending on their fleet size?
4. Monitoring & Enforcement
How is compliance monitored? What are the consequences or remediation steps if providers fail to meet no-use or compliance obligations?
5. Related Documentation
Please forward any policy documents, guidance, risk assessments, correspondence with providers, or exemption requests related to PSVAR compliance for this category of school transport.
If records are held by contractors on your behalf, please confirm whether they are subject to FOI and how responses would be coordinated.
Response
Concerning home-to-school transport services involving passengers not entitled to free transport:
1. Exempt Vehicle Usage
When was the last time a PSVAR-exempt vehicle was used on such services? Please specify provider, route(s), and date.
Answer: We consider this information to be exempt under Section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because disclosure, which is to the world at large, would, or would be likely, to endanger the safety of the individual(s) concerned.
This exemption is subject to a Public Interest Test and accordingly I have weighed up the reasons for and against disclosure in the public interest as follows:
The public interest in disclosure:
Openness and transparency regarding home-to-school transport services.
The public interest in non-disclosure:
Disclosing the requested information would allow the provider’s routes of vulnerable individuals/children to be identified, which could put vulnerable individuals/children at risk of being harmed/abducted.
Taking the above into consideration, I have found the reasons in non-disclosure of the information outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
2. Eliminating Exempt Vehicles
What contractual measures or guidance have you implemented to ensure exempt vehicles are no longer used on these particular trips?
Answer: The Service Area have advised planning for transport is taking into account the exemption deadline of July 2026.
3. PSVAR-Compliant Fleet Share
Of the vehicles deployed on these specific non-entitled passenger services, how many (number and percentage) are fully PSVAR-compliant?
Answer: N/A – The Service Area have advised we don’t have our own fleet.
How do you ensure that companies providing home to school services have the requisite number and proportion of fully PSVAR compliant vehicles as required from 1st August 2025 depending on their fleet size?
Answer: The Service Area have advised companies are aware of their responsibilities and potential non-compliance.
4. Monitoring & Enforcement
How is compliance monitored? What are the consequences or remediation steps if providers fail to meet no-use or compliance obligations?
Answer: The Service Area have advised compliance is monitored on a monthly basis, and encompasses all home-to-school transport, including SEN transport and public services. Penalty points and potential termination of contract if deemed to be non-compliant.
5. Related Documentation
Please forward any policy documents, guidance, risk assessments, correspondence with providers, or exemption requests related to PSVAR compliance for this category of school transport.
Answer: The Service Area have advised there are currently no policy documents available, as the legislation has not yet been fully implemented, and the Department for Transport (DfT) will provide their own guidance on their website.
New documents or guidance will only be required when we review the use of PSVAR-compliant vehicles for our transport operations.
Please note that risk assessments are not maintained for mainstream transport.
If records are held by contractors on your behalf, please confirm whether they are subject to FOI and how responses would be coordinated.
Answer: N/A
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.