Latest news with #transportcuts
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Six West Yorkshire school bus routes facing the axe
Plans to axe six school bus routes in West Yorkshire have been described as "simply not acceptable" by a councillor in Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is considering cutting three buses in Bradford, one in Calderdale and two in said the plan would help "create a more equitable service across West Yorkshire" saying there were walking and cycling routes available to pupils of some of the schools Green councillor Kevin Warnes, who represent Shipley on Bradford Council, said it was "critical" that bus travel networks were maintained and expanded. WYCA, which subsidises numerous routes, will decide whether to move ahead with the changes on 24 decision comes after more than 3,700 people took part in a consultation on the future of these subsidised services facing the axe include: B50 Eldwick to Beckfoot SchoolB99 Bradford city centre to Appleton AcademyS64 Baildon to Titus Salt School or S66 Baildon Primary to Titus Salt SchoolC6 Crossley Heath GrammarS62 Cockburn SchoolSM25 Ilkley to St Mary's Menston Referring to cuts to the Titus Salt School service, Warnes said: "Cuts are not an option."These transport links are essential to support local families and enable people to make sustainable travel choices."He said school buses were an important way of mitigating traffic congestion."The withdrawal of any of these services is simply not acceptable."Independent councillor for Bingley Marcus Deardon said he was worried the authority would cut other school bus services next year which had been passed to them by Bradford Council."These cuts will result in extra vehicles clogging up the highways and possibly making it impossible for some students to access these schools." 'Safe and secure' According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, WYCA said it would work with councils and schools to ensure children with special educational needs and disabilities are provided with said it currently has arrangements in place for 328 buses carrying up to 20,000 pupils per day at a cost of £18.99m a year of which 45% as funded by the combined remaining costs are funded by income from fares, council's across West Yorkshire and said guidelines for value money criteria set a maximum subsidy of £2.35 per passenger trip from September 2025 and services that do not meet the criteria will be "considered for withdrawal".Chair of WYCA's transport committee and Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: "It is vital that we provide safe and secure routes for children to get to school, and we want to ensure the policy is equitably applied across West Yorkshire."We will continue to engage with stakeholders and the parents and carers of the small number of children affected to ensure that every child has a suitable option to get to school." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
South Shields bus cuts leave elderly 'isolated' and 'neglected'
Cuts to a bus service have left elderly and disabled residents "isolated" and "neglected", according to campaigners. Transport officials have been urged to reverse a decision to reduce services on the Stagecoach 12 route, which runs through parts of South people have been struggling to get to medical appointments or visit family due to the cuts, campaigners said. The bus firm said it was investigating options to increase the frequency of the service but the solution had to be "sustainable". In May, the service was cut from a half-hour service to an hourly service, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. South Tyneside Public Transport Users' Group said some people who used the bus lived on the highest point of South group's chair Nic Cook said: "We refuse to leave residents left isolated, their physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing neglected. "Several residents stated that their families can no longer visit them because they cannot travel there reliably on public transport and cannot afford to pay for taxis to get there." 'Cannot cover cuts' Resident Tom Atkinson, 81, said he had been injured in a fall as he tried to walk up a hill while carrying his shopping after missing the said: "If you miss the 12, then there are five banks you have to walk up - it is a bit too much."Stagecoach said its current hourly service was provided at its "own commercial risk" without support from the North East Combined Authority (NECA) or said it hoped some of the money provided by the government to improve local bus routes could be used to fund the 12 service, which runs from the town centre through Laygate, Harton, and Cleadon official Helen Matthews said government funds were limited and it had to prioritise the money for areas which were at risk of having no bus services at all. She said: "The recent scale of cuts to commercial bus routes and frequencies is greater than our whole publicly funded provision can cover."Labour's North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she felt for the residents of South Shields. "I remain very concerned the operator hasn't properly engaged with passengers - it isn't good enough and needs to change," she said. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Leicester City Council school transport funding decision to be reviewed
A decision to cut post-16 transport for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) children and young adults in Leicester will be reviewed. The move to reduce the service was confirmed by Leicester City Council on Tuesday, and means few SEND students over the age of 16 will be offered dedicated home-to-school taxis or a seat on council-funded documents state the cut, set to come into effect from the start of the 2025/26 academic year, will save money by "reducing entitlement".It will now be discussed at a meeting of the council's children, young people and education scrutiny commission on 22 May. If the cuts remain in place after the move has been scrutinised, the city council has estimated the savings will be £2.1m per Pantling, assistant city mayor for children and young people, defended the move, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."Many councils stopped funding post-16 transport some time ago, while in Leicester we have continued to support it for as long as we can," she said."Unfortunately, our financial position means we can no longer do this."Five Labour councillors – Stephen Bonham, Melissa March, Lynn Moore, Yasmin Surti and George Cole – called the decision in for further examination. In a joint statement they said: "We feel that this is such an important policy it requires scrutiny oversight."A spokesperson for the city council said if the scrutiny commission decides to send the decision on to full council, it cannot change a decision made by an executive spokesperson added: "If [it] sends the policy to full council, they could recommend a change to the decision – i.e. scrap it entirely or make specific changes – but the executive member who made the decision has to then decide whether to accept the council recommendation or not."
