While August is holiday time for schools and for those coach operators that concentrate on the provision of home-to-school (H2S) services, the autumn term is just around the corner. Many coach operators will be taking up new H2S contracts or modifying existing ones to take account of new school intake. Some changes may be required once the school routes start running again and pupil numbers have been properly assessed.
Some of these school routes may require either new or amended registrations with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and/or the local authority. If they come into the Greater London area, they may require a London Service Permit (LSP) which can be obtained from Transport for London. If routes in England do require registration, they also need to comply with the Bus Open Data Service (BODS).
But which services require registration? I will attempt to try and explain this, though if you are still unsure, I would seek legal advice.
Firstly, if your service is open to the public, the stops are less than 15 miles apart (measured in a straight line), the timetable is readily available and probably allocated a route number, then the route requires registration. Even if it is predominately used by school students, it is still classified as a local (public) service. If the route is not currently registered, I recommend you take steps to do so. If the route is already registered, but the timetable and/or route is changing in September, then the registration will need to be varied. The same process applies if the route enters or runs in Greater London; you need to obtain or vary your LSP.
However, if the service is restricted to school students (otherwise known as ‘closed door’) then the service may not require registration, depending on whether certain criteria are met. These criteria are set out in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 (Schedule 1, Sections III and IV) and are as follows:
All passengers are taken to or from the same location
The service is not advertised in advance to the general public
The same fare is charged irrespective of distanced travelled
Someone other than the operator or their agent is responsible for bringing the passengers together.
If all four of these criteria are met, then your closed door H2S service does not require registration.
In addition, school services provided on behalf of the local education authority (LEA), where the LEA is fulfilling its obligation to provide such transport, do not require registration, so long as the only fare paying passengers carried are:
1. People receiving education or training at the school or college
2. People supervising or escorting them
3. People involved with the provision of education or training at these premises.
You may have H2S services which do not fall into any of these categories and that is where you may need to seek further advice.
If you need to register or vary a H2S service, the forms can be found here and, once completed, should be sent to [email protected]
If you need to apply for, or vary an LSP, the form can be found here.
Equally important is to cancel registrations/permits for services that you no longer operate.
The UK Coach Operators Association believes that many changes have taken place since these acts and regulations were put in place, and is lobbying government to see some sensible updating to these processes.
