Personal Travel Budgets (PTB) can be one way to make your child’s journey to school more comfortable and enjoyable. By offering 50 pence per mile for 4 journeys a day, we aim to help parent/carers take their child to and from school in a way that suits them best. With Personal Travel Budgets, your child can travel to school with people they know, which means fewer transitions during their school day, a stronger link with the school and it will mean the child won’t need to adapt to varying drivers/Guide Escorts. This payment is tax free and doesn’t affect any benefit entitlement.
Below is an example of how much you could get with a Personal Travel Budget depending on the number of miles between home and school:
| Miles between home and school | How much you could get per week | How much you could get per year (38 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 miles | £30 | £1,140 |
| 5 miles | £50 | £1,900 |
| 7 miles | £70 | £2,660 |
| 10 miles | £100 | £3,800 |
There are several ways in which you can use a Personal Travel Budget, including:
- Arranging shared travel with other parent/carers, such as shared driving responsibilities, walking, buses or joint taxi bookings
- Overcoming barriers that may prevent you accompanying your child to school, e.g. travel/childcare arrangements for siblings (this payment could be used to pay for Breakfast club for siblings in mainstream school)
- Covering the cost of driving or cycling with your child to school
- Paying for a Guide Escort for your child to walk to school or travel by public transport, you may also choose to do this yourself.
Parents/Carers should also consider the environmental impact when choosing the most appropriate travel options under a Personal Travel Budget.
Personal Travel Budgets are granted at the discretion of the local authority, where it is cost effective for the authority to do so. To enable monthly payments, parent/carers will need to sign an agreement with Bath and North East Somerset Council and provide their bank details.
To find out more about Personal Travel Budgets and to see if you are eligible, email the Travel Team.