North Yorkshire opposition councillors are asking for three three immediate changes to the authority’s home-to-school transport policy amid claims families continue to be unfairly affected.
Liberal Democrats have made the call ahead of the publication of North Yorkshire Council’s post-implementation review (PIR) of the policy next week.
The Lib Dems say the review must not result in further delays after two years of concerns being raised by parents, schools and councillors.
The party ultimately wants the policy changed so children qualify for free transport to either their nearest suitable school or their catchment school.
However, councillors say another intake of pupils is now set to be affected by the existing arrangements and want three discretionary measures introduced in the meantime.
The first would provide a safeguard for pupils where travelling to their designated nearest school involves routes at high elevation, with the Lib Dems suggesting a possible threshold of 400 metres.
The second relates to council-contracted buses which already serve more than one school.
The group says eligible pupils should be allowed to use such services to attend either school, citing buses serving Richmond School and St Francis Xavier School, as well as Ripon Grammar School and Outwood Academy Ripon.
The third proposal concerns children whose nearest suitable school is outside North Yorkshire.
The Lib Dems want the council to also identify their nearest suitable school within the county and use its discretionary powers to provide transport there.
Councillor Andrew Murday said: “The PIR is due on September 8, but parents and schools have already spent two years telling the council where this policy is failing.
“We don’t need another year of delay while County Hall argues about the bigger question. Children are being affected now.
“These three fixes are simple, targeted and can be introduced within the existing framework. They would immediately address some of the most obvious unfairness without waiting for a wholesale policy review.”
Cllr Murday said the party remained committed to a “nearest or catchment” system in the longer term, which he described as simpler and fairer.
He added: “While the debate continues, the council has a responsibility to stop avoidable harm.
“Stop stalling, and start solving. These three quick fixes could be implemented now.”
In response, North Yorkshire council leader Carl Les told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the policy was changed in a bid to reduce the annual school transport bill of more than £50m.
He added: “We changed the policy to one that most councils follow, including Lib Dem-run ones like Westmorland and Furness.
Recommended reading
Calls for school transport changes to be abandoned amid claim council ignoring policy
Disappointment as council knocks back request for extra gritting on 'hazardous' route
Developer 'reviewing options' after councillors fail to determine 1,500-home plan
“We’re doing what we have to do legally, but we’re also expecting parents to pay for parental choice, not the council taxpayer.
“Early indications are that we’re making the savings that we intended to, even when we introduced some generous transition measures.”
Talking about the PIR, Cllr Les added: “We need to do this properly, which is why we’re asking our colleagues to subject recommendations that you will see next week to rigorous and proper scrutiny, unlike the Lib Dems who just seem to want us to rush at this even before we’ve announced what the recommendations of the PIR are — I would suggest that is just to grab a political headline.”
Share