Council Cabinet to Reconsider Decision on School Transport Cuts

A DECISION to axe free home to school transport for 300 children will have to be looked at again by a council’s cabinet. 
The distance at which pupils qualify for a free bus pass is due to increase from September 2025 from 1.5 miles, to two miles, for primary pupils and from two miles to three for those at secondary school. 
Monmouthshire County Council’s Labour-led cabinet said it had taken the decision to use the Welsh Government’s legal limits, rather than the more generous distances it had traditionally applied, on cost grounds. 
Opposition councillors said the decision was flawed as a consultation was held during July and August, mostly during the long school summer holidays. 
The council’s people scrutiny committee, which held a special meeting on September 19 to review the cabinet’s decision made a week earlier, agreed with the Conservative councillors who asked for it to be looked at again and referred back to the cabinet for reconsideration.
 
Conservative member for Portskewett Lisa Dymock told the committee: “Proceeding with this could force children as young as four to walk up to four miles to and from school, and secondary pupils six miles a day.” 
She said the consultation held from July 12, when schools were still open, until August 23 was “poorly timed and failed to reach its intended audience” as schools were on holiday and “parents may not have been checking school communications as frequently”. 
She said Rhondda Cynon Taf Council had held its consultation on changes to school transport from November, 2023 to February this year. 
Caerwent member Phil Murphy said a longer consultation period, that could have started earlier, would have allowed time to consider walking routes and outlined there are “no safe walking routes” from his ward to Caldicot. 
Usk councillor Tony Kear said it was a “double standard” the council administration hadn’t wanted a by-election, following the election of Monmouth councillor Catherine Fookes to Parliament, over the summer holidays but was willing to hold a consultation on school transport. 
Cabinet member for education, Labour’s Martyn Groucutt, said it had been the intention to start the consultation earlier, though Monmouthshire has traditionally held  it during August and September ahead of a deadline of October 1 of the following school year.
But he said legal advice was it couldn’t be held during the UK General Election so plans to run the consultation from June 3 had to be shelved after the election was called on May 22. 
The council received a “record number of responses” with 408 completed online surveys, 11 further emails and its consultation website page being viewed more than 2,000 times. Cllr Groucutt said the annual consultation received just 71 responses in 2022 when it ran until mid September. 
Conservative Jan Butler suggested the response rate reflected the proposals and said: “They are very controversial changes.” 
Transport manager Debra Hill-Howells said she had sent 3,173 emails to all school transport users in July and a reminder email in August with heads having also been made aware before the end of term and responses indicated parents had understood the proposed changes. 
The committee was also told assessment of walking routes are only carried out when the council is aware of which children require transport and the consultation is timed to manage the workload of its “small” transport unit and to run as close as possible to the following school year when any changes to the policy are implemented. 
The nine member committee, including four Labour members, agreed unanimously to refer the decision back to the cabinet which will have to make a decision before October 1. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​