The findings of a public consultation on the future of home-school transport in the county are set to be discussed by a council scrutiny committee later this week (pdf).
The proposed changes which went out for consultation include:
- Increasing the minimum distance to be eligible for free transport to the legal minimum (1.5 miles for nursery children, 2 miles for primary, 3 miles for secondary), where BCBC has determined a safe walking/cycling route is available.
- Ending the “sibling rule”, where younger pupils are eligible for free transport on the same terms as older siblings attending the same school.
- Withdrawing free transport for English-medium nursery children (3-4 year olds) as well as post-16 students attending English-medium secondary schools.
- Free transport would continue for post-16 and nursery children who attend Welsh-medium or faith-based schools and live beyond the minimum distance.
- Free transport for over-16s with additional learning needs living a minimum of 3 miles away (whether attending special or mainstream schools) would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
There were over 1,300 responses to the consultation.
The key findings are:
- 70.5% of respondents opposed increasing the minimum distance to be eligible for free transport to the legal minimum.
- A similar percentage (69.8%) disagreed with removing free transport for post-16 English-medium pupils.
- A further 57.5% opposed removing free transport for English-medium nursery pupils.
- 52.6% opposed introducing personal transport budgets for post-16 pupils with additional learning needs. There were concerns over whether the proposed 45p-per-mile rate would cover the expected costs.
The only proposed change that a majority of respondents supported (52.1%) was ending the “sibling rule”. Some of the comments expressing concerns or opposition to the proposals include road and personal safety issues, the length of journeys and some opposition towards perceived preferential treatment for faith and Welsh-medium students.
BCBC aim to save a minimum of £792,000 from the 2025-26 budget, with home-school transport already running a persistent £1million+ annual deficit.
