Personal Travel Budget and Expenses
What is a Personal Travel Budget (PTB)?
A PTB is a sum of money allocated to parents/carers to enable them to get their child to school. It offers families choice and flexibility. How the money is spent is completely at the family’s discretion.
Who can get a Personal Travel Budget (PTB)?
PTBs are available to parents/ carers of children and young people who are eligible for free home to school transport under Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s Policy. PTBs are granted at the discretion of the local authority (Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council), they will only be offered if this is more cost effective than other options, like travelling by bus or taxi.
How is it calculated?
Payment will be calculated in miles to and from the school. We will pay you 45p per mile for 2 return journeys per day.
What can I use a PTB for?
You can spend a PTB how ever you like, as long as your child travels in a way that ensures their safety, their attendance at school and enables them to arrive at school on time. Some examples of how you could spend a PTB are:
- Buy a travel pass for yourself or a trusted adult to accompany your child to school.
- Cover the cost of mileage for you or a trusted person to drive your child to school.
- Cover the cost of care for siblings to allow you to take your child to school if your child has special educational needs.
- Share arrangements with other parents/carers such as shared driving responsibilities, walking buses or joint taxi bookings.
What is the detail?
The PTB amount will be paid direct to the parent/carer via their bank acount. This person must agree to be responsible for arranging transport and making sure their child attends school.
Payments will be made to the nominated bank account at the beginning of each month (excluding August).
PTB's do not affect other benefits received as the money is to be used for the cost of your child's travel.
If you decide the PTB is not working for you, you can contact the Council's Transport Team to discuss other options.
There will be no regular monitoring of how the PTB is spent (you won’t need to submit mileage logs or receipts). However, if school attendance drops below 90% or your child is persistently late your PTB might be reduced or stopped.
For further information see the flyer below or if you have further queries: transport@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk