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Response by the Cabinet Member: As you have alluded to in your question, the issue around our vacant seat policy is complex – because of the issue of PSVAR and the council being able to apply this consistently across the council. I can assure you that I have been discussing this issue with officers for some time now as other elected Members have been raising the same issue. However, the crux of the issue is that whilst we recognise the unintended consequences of the legislation, we are somewhat reluctant to offer free vacant seats to learners as it is very probable, that in future, we will have to ask families to surrender their seats if our bus companies are not able to demonstrate that they are transitioning their fleets towards PSVAR compliant buses. This will mean that we will not be able offer to sell vacant seats because as with all discretionary services we offer, we must make the same offer across the county in a consistent and equitable manner. When we come to renew the contract arrangements, the council will need to consider, then decide if we are prepared to make it a mandatory requirement in the contract that all dedicated school buses (over 22 passenger seats) are PSVAR compliant. The risk to the council in doing this, is that there will be significant additional costs, which will more than likely be far in excess of the income that the vacant seat scheme would generate.
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