Latest news with #schooltransport
BBC News
3 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Reading school transport drivers could pay higher fees under plans
People who drive pupils to school each day may have to pay hundreds of pounds more to continue Borough Council has proposed removing school transport, which enables drivers to get children with education, health and care (EHC) plans to and from school, as a separate licencing Parkinson from Green Metro Cars said the changes, which would mean school transport drivers would have to become private hire drivers, would create a "massive hole".Reading Borough Council said the special licensing category was only introduced due to a lack of vehicles and drivers at the time, and was no longer needed. At a meeting on 21 July, Clyde Masson, the council's principal licensing officer, said "times have changed"."From a licensing perspective, we're questioning why we're subsidising that work," he said. Any child who does not live within walking distance of their school is eligible for a bus pass, and children with more complex needs and disabilities are entitled to a taxi currently costs £240 to get a school transport licence in Reading. It then costs £100 to licence a school transport vehicle, compared to £315 to licence a private hire a council meeting, Mr Parkinson said school transport drivers were different from private hire said it was "specialist" and required extensive training and catering for the needs of pupils, and also questioned the financial rationale."If there is a financial reason for getting rid of the school transport licence, it's not a good choice," he said."We take 1,000 children to school every day. It's far cheaper for me to put these drivers into a school-run vehicle rather than a private taxi vehicle."Councillors unanimously agreed to a statutory consultation into the plans at a meeting on 22 July. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
SEPTA warns 'doomsday' service cuts could disrupt Philadelphia student's back-to-school commute
SEPTA is urging families in the Philadelphia region to start planning now for how their children will be getting to and from school next month. All 55,000 students who ride SEPTA's buses and trains will be affected by the agency's self-described "doomsday" service cuts, according to Andrew Busch, SEPTA's communications director. He said students will have to wake up even earlier to get to class on-time. "It's going to be much more difficult to get those kids to school," Busch said. "[What] students and parents will probably need to prepare for is having students take more transfers than they normally do and certainly allowing for time to get to and from school." Agency leaders said the cuts were necessary to plug a $213 million budget hole. The first wave of cuts, which includes removing 36 bus routes, eliminating 3,000 bus stops and slashing service systemwide by 20%, are scheduled to take effect on Aug. 24, exactly one day before the start of school. Busch warned students living in the city's northeast and northwest neighborhoods will be most affected. "In those areas where there's not as much density, the impact is going to be a little more just because things are spaced out a little more," Busch said. "There's not as much service in those areas, so when you take away some service, it can have a bigger impact in those areas where we're not running as much service to begin with." Both politicians and SEPTA leaders are lobbying members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to allocate more money to the agency, but Busch warned even if state money comes in at the last minute, SEPTA wouldn't be able to quickly reverse the cuts. "The closer we get to the 24th [of August], the more difficult it's going to be," Busch said. "We need about two or three weeks to either make a decision to go or not go with these cuts, so if we got into the 20th and funding hadn't been approved, then we'd already be too late." A spokeswoman with The School District of Philadelphia said the district's working with its transportation department to gather information and communicate options to families. Starting Monday, SEPTA will begin posing signs about the cuts at every affected bus route and stop. It's also urging parents to visit its website for more details on the service cuts.
BBC News
13-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plan to scrap some school buses in Blackburn and Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen Council's education boss has promised to monitor the impact of changes to its support for dedicated buses to four of its biggest secondary Julie Gunn made the pledge as the authority's executive board confirmed proposals to scrap some services and increase fares for pupils on those that council had historically provided dedicated buses for St Wilfrid's Secondary Academy, St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Our Lady and St John's Catholic Academy and Darwen Aldridge Community said: "Those pupils entitled to free transport to school will be entirely unaffected." Cashless system The cost of tickets for borough schoolchildren attending secondary schools in Bolton will also changes were set out in a report by Gunn earlier this week, in which she said the council had subsidised a shortfall for the four schools in the short this was not financially sustainable or fair to other schools in the borough, or the parents of their pupils, she the meeting borough growth boss Quesir Mahmood welcomed a plan to move to a cashless also said: "We will need to monitor any effect on pupil attendance."Gunn said: "We will keep an eye of school attendance as a result of these changes."Pupil attendance is really important to us."It is really important to pupils as well in terms of their life chances after school."The fare increases are the first for dedicated school services for 10 years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nigel Farage calls for cuts to Kent's school transport spending
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has described Kent County Council's spending on home to school transport as "beyond belief", suggesting funding should be removed from some his first visit to County Hall in Maidstone since the party took over the council in May, he said the authority was "going to save a lot of money" through its Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). He said: "There are things called parents who for as long as modern times remember have had the aggravation of getting their kids to school." Farage's visit was part of a tour of authorities that Reform UK won at the local elections. The party took control of Kent County Council on 2 May, wiping out the Conservative majority after nearly 30 UK's Doge was launched in Maidstone in June, designed to identify areas where councils can save party would not be drawn on how much Kent would be looking to save or which budgets, though Linden Kemkaran, council leader, told the BBC it would be "in the millions".She said: "I've always said from day one I would ask awkward questions."Cutting the budget for home to school transport was a subject the party was keen to talk the council spends £98m per year on school transport, according to Reform UK. Children are eligible for that if they are over eight years old and living more than three miles (4.8km) from school, if they have special educational needs or are a family on a low said: "If you've got two kids living next door to each other getting separate taxis that is crazy."To have crept to a position where school transport is costing taxpayers almost £100m per year is unacceptable."He did say there would be exceptions for children with special educational authority has its first full meeting on Thursday and it is expected to announce the findings of its audit. The visit comes after news that James McMurdock, Reform UK MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock in Essex, resigned the party whip amid allegations that he took out government loans during the Covid-19 pandemic for businesses with no was keen to distance himself from the absence of candidate vetting processes for the 2024 general election, and said he "can't apologise" for said: "I came in, I inherited this situation where hundreds of candidates who stood in the last general election had not gone through a vetting process."The Reform UK leader did not answer when asked whether the allegations faced by McMurdock were an embarrassment for his party."Let's find out the truth, I know as much about this right now as you do," he reporting by PA Media.
The Independent
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Pupils with special needs ‘have to travel further to school for suitable place'
Children with special educational needs are having to travel long distances to school due to a lack of suitable provision near home, councils have suggested. Budgets for home to school transport are under 'considerable pressure' as many special schools are full, which is forcing pupils to travel further, according to a Local Government Association (LGA) report. Spending by councils on transporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) to schools is predicted to reach around £1.97 billion in 2025/26, up from around £1.73 billion in 2023/24 and approximately £645 million in 2015/16. Children under eight are entitled to free home to school transport if the nearest suitable school is more than two miles away, or more than three miles for older children. The average one-way trip to school for pupils with Send is nine miles, according to the research carried out by the Isos Partnership, but one county council reported an average distance of 22.8 miles. Councils reported that a 'growing minority' of children and young people with Send are travelling very long distances to school – often due to a lack of suitable special school places closer to their home. The report warned that continuing to fulfil the current statutory responsibilities for home to school transport is becoming 'increasingly financially unsustainable' for local authorities. The findings have been published during the LGA's three-day annual conference in Liverpool this week. Schools minister Catherine McKinnell is due to address council leaders on the Send system at the LGA's conference on Wednesday morning. Department for Education (DfE) data last week showed that the number of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – which set out the support a young person requires for their Send needs – has increased. In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January, up 10.8% on the same point last year. The LGA report said the rise in the number of children and young people who require education in a special setting has 'placed considerable pressure on home to school transport budgets as most special schools are full, forcing children to travel further distances to access a place that meets their needs'. Councils have reported a 40% rise over the last five years in children and young people with Send (aged under 16) needing home to school transport, the research suggested. Arooj Shah, who chairs the LGA's children and young people board, said: 'The rapidly rising need for home to school transport from children and young people in Send is yet another reminder of the huge pressures on the Send system. 'It is also wrong that children are increasingly having to travel long distances to get to school because of a lack of provision near to their home. 'This has to change. 'We urge the Government in its White Paper to deliver the comprehensive reforms the Send system needs, so that it is more inclusive and improves educational attainment for children. 'This should also include putting councils on a stable financial footing by writing off councils' high needs deficits, which are projected to reach £5 billion next year.' A DfE spokeswoman said: 'This Government inherited a Send system left on its knees – which is why we are looking at changes to enable more children to thrive in mainstream settings and stop parents having to fight for help, while bringing about financial sustainability for councils. 'Through our plan for change, we're already making progress by investing £740 million to create more places for children with Send in mainstream schools, as well as increasing early access to speech, language and neurodiversity support to prevent needs from escalating. 'This will pave the way for significant, long-term reform – improving children's and parents' experiences and addressing the pressures councils are facing, including around home to school transport.'
