The scope of continuing contract payments - Find a freedom of information request

I am writing regarding the scope of continuing contract payments being made by local authorities across Britain to operators of home to school transport services during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, I would be most grateful if you would be able to answer two questions I have in this regard, please:

1. Where the home to school transport operator’s drivers are not subject to the government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), what percentage of the contract value is being paid?

2. Where the home to school transport operator’s drivers are subject to CJRS (i.e. they are furloughed), what percentage of the contract value is being paid?

Subject to any further Government advice, the Council has agreed up until the end of June to pay 100% of the contract rate for home to school services that continue to be required to operate, partially or in full. For home to school services that are fully suspended the Council is offering to make a discretionary payment of 85% of the contract rate, which represents the normal payment minus an element for profit and fuel costs.

1. Discretionary payments are conditional on operators meeting a number of conditions which include agreement to reasonable requests for redeploying spare capacity, open book accounting for the period and confirmation that they are not claiming other funding sources such as furlough payments for the driver/PA or the Self Employment Income Support Scheme in the case of owner drivers.

2. Where operators cannot comply with the discretionary payments conditions i.e. if the transport crew is subject to CJRS, or they do not wish to sign up to the conditions then reimbursement for suspended services is being paid at the standard rate stipulated in the Terms & Conditions for the given contract, which in most cases will be 50%.