Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the definition of "nearest school" in relation to home-to-school transport provision to ensure that the phrase is interpreted consistently by local authorities.

The department’s statutory guidance for local authorities provides advice on how they should determine which is a child’s nearest school. It says that where schools are within the statutory walking distance from the child’s home, local authorities should determine which is the nearest school by measuring the shortest walking route. Where the schools are beyond walking distance, local authorities may consider it more appropriate to measure the shortest road route or straight-line distance. Local authorities should make it clear in their school travel policy how they measure the distance from a child’s home to school.