We proposed changes to day services opening times and council transport arrangements.
As valued people who use our service, we are keen to understand how these proposals could affect you, your carers / parents and our wider community.
Consultation start date: Thursday 19 March 2026
Consultation closing date: Sunday 17 May 2026
Background
In July 2025, the council approved a new Day Services Strategy, following a public consultation. In this strategy, the council outlined proposals to develop the service to ensure it meets people’s needs now and in the future and to make better use of our resources including staff, buildings and vehicles.
We are proposing changes to the way we use transport to support adults attending council-run day services. This is part of a wider review of passenger transport across Hertfordshire County Council, looking at ways to use our fleet more effectively.
The council currently provides transport to day services using a combination of council vehicles and drivers and vehicles run by contracted operators.
The changes we are proposing help respond to the challenging financial situation faced by the council following the government’s recent Fair Funding Review, which removes up to £42 million of grant funding by 2028-29. By using our existing resources as efficiently and effectively as possible, we can ensure our day services continue on a sustainable footing.
Proposals
This consultation asks you to consider a proposal to change day service opening times and alter the timing of transport for day services. These changes would enable the council to make better use of our internal fleet by using the vehicles to take children with SEND to school / college, where this is appropriate, and then transport adults to day services.
For children with SEND, the main change if these proposals go ahead will be that a small proportion of those receiving home to school transport will be transported by council vehicles rather than contracted vehicles. Some may move from a car or people carrier to a larger shared vehicle such as a minibus. We will always prioritise getting children to school safely and on time in transport appropriate to their needs. There will be no changes to school times as a result of these proposals.
We want your views on this proposal and how the changes might affect you. The feedback from the consultation will be presented to councillors at Cabinet on 15 July 2026 who will make the final decision. If it is agreed that the proposals will go ahead, the changes will be implemented from April 2027.
We are proposing to change the opening times of council-run day services to 9.30am – 4.30pm. If you travel independently or with a carer and not on council transport, the earliest you would be able to arrive at a day service is 9.30am.
For people who use council transport, the morning pickups from people’s homes would start from 9.30am and the afternoon transport would leave the day service at approximately 4.30pm. This would mean that people are likely to be picked up later from their home in the morning and would arrive home later in the afternoon.
The changes are also likely to have an impact on the transport that is available to support people to take part in activities in the local community during the school term-time. We will look at how we can minimise the impact of these changes and ensure that the services we provide will continue to meet people’s needs and support people to achieve their goals. We will work hard to ensure that quality activities and opportunities are still available. Our priority remains to continue to deliver the best possible services to people we support and their carers.