A number of things about ...

I understand from the response that routes do not run longer that one year without being re-booked.

1.    You say that there were not enough vehicles for the route the service provider had bid on.

a.      How many vehicles did they have?

b.    How many routes did they bid on?

c.      Is this common practice?

2.    From our experiences from last year, it took a number of weeks from when it was decided to replace the provider to a new provider being able to provide a bus for our son, approximately 6 weeks. Given this, is sufficient time being given to this process?

a.      When did the inspection take place in relation to

                                                              i.    The provider being added to ADAM (the procurement system)

                                                            ii.    The provider winning the routes

                                                          iii.    The start of the route

b.    Did the provider indicate when they would be able to provide new vehicles in order for there to be a complete complement of in date vehicles for all the routes that they had bid on? And did the transport manager ask this question?

3.    From the description that you give above, it appears that no vehicles were in date.

a.      Were any vehicles in date?

b.    How else did the transport manager inspect the roadworthiness of the vehicles that were inspected, beyond looking at the age of the vehicle?

4.    The vehicle provided for our son was 12 years old – 7 years older than the age permissible under the contract.

a.      How ‘out of date’ were the vehicles?

b.    Beyond noting whether the vehicles were in date or not, did the transport manager note down the age of the vehicles inspected?

5.    How was the issue of the out of date vehicles at inspection reported upwards?

a.      Did the transport manager let her line manager know about the issues of the age of the vehicles with this provider?

b.    Was this then reported up to the Head of Service? The Assistant Director?

c.      Who did the final decision to allow out of date vehicles to transport our vulnerable SEND children, in this case our son, rest with?

d.    When was the Head of Service / Assistant Director know about this decision?

e.      Did the Head of Service / Assistant Director approve of out of date vehicles running on the routes?

f.      Which staff member / leadership member at the local authority has the statutory duty for the provision SEND Transport and was this person aware that the above decision regarding the running of out of date vehicles had been made? And did they give their approval for that decision?

When where the new vehicles expected?

It is not clear when the provider would be running the vehicles as outlines. It is not clear from your response that this would be for the start of the routes running.                                

1.    Did the transport manager ask for a date for when the provider would be running new vehicles?

2.    Did the transport manger seek assurance that the new vehicles would be running at the start of term?

3.    Again, was this reported upwards to the person with the statutory provision of this service?

4.    Did the transport manager indicate that they wanted to know when the new vehicles had arrived and that they would be re-inspecting the provider to ensure that the new vehicles had arrived – or did they say that they would not be re-inspecting the provider?

5.    Is it normal practice to inspect once, put in requirements for change, and then not re-inspect?

Wheelchair Access

1.     When the transport manager conducted the initial inspection, did they check how many vehicles were wheelchair accessible?

2.    When the provider indicated that they would be purchasing new vehicles, again, did the transport manager ask if these would be wheelchair accessible?

3.    The vehicle that came to our son had 4 parallel rails but was very narrow. I will bring the video tomorrow.

Reporting upwards of issues by the escort

1.     Is this to be a change in practice regarding reporting from escorts to the office?

2.    Who had oversight of this policy?

 Age of buses at the start of the contract  

1.    I don’t understand the table. If contracts are re-newed annually, why is there a 2 year window?

2.    The vehicle provided to our son was 12 years old – 7 years older that the permissible age at start of contract.

a.      Why was 5 years of age for a bus at start of contract initially decided upon?

b.    Given, that some vehicles are now allowed to run outside the permitted ages, Is there now an upper boundary for the age of a bus at start of contract?

c.      If yes, what is that upper age?

d.    If yes, is 12 years too old?

e.      If yes, what additional checks are taken to ensure safety? Eg increased number of inspections, upward reporting of decision making, approval of particular buses running by more senior managers, consent of parents, alternative arrangements offered to parents.

f.      If no, should there be an upper boundary?

g.      If no, what extra safe guards are in place? Eg increased number of inspections etc

3.    Who decided that knowing the supplier is a sufficient guarantee of safety if the bus is older that the required age at the start of the contract? Is this sufficiently robust basis on which to make decisions?

4.    Please specify which regulations you are referring to regarding the age of vehicles.

 Availability of vehicles

 On what basis have you come to the conclusion that there is a reduced supply of vehicles in London? What happens to the stock of the company on administration? Is this in addition to the previous provider of our sons vehicle that went into administration?

Providers saying that they are going to provide new vehicles

 1.     Who did not question this properly?

2.    Given that provider often say that they are going to buy new vehicles, how often does this happen in practice?

3.    Do Haringey then reinspect these vehicles?

4.    Have other providers said that they will buy new vehicles on inspection and then not done so?

5.    Do Haringey check the age / number plate of each vehicle at inspection and cross-check the following year?

6.    Please see previous questions about how far outside the age requirements is acceptable and how this is monitored.

7.    Does this mean that no other checks were carried out on our sons vehicle?

Risk assessment

 1.     Where does the information for the risk assessment come from?

2.    Is it on the application form?

3.    Should the application form clearly indicate the purpose for which information is gathered and who it will be shared with?

4.    Whilst the risks are as stated, what assessment of those risks were undertaken? What management plan was put in place?

5.    If this information comes from the welcome pack, it should be noted that our pack arrived here after term had started.

What is the alternative plan if a transport vehicle fails?

 We continue to raise our concerns that when an unforeseen incident occurs, both children, who normally require one to one supervision, are left in a more vulnerable position, and put at additional risk, were they are both supervised by one person.