Changes to Free School Transport Eligibility Approved for Secondary Schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf

Changes to free school transport eligibility for secondary schools and colleges in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) have been approved but the criteria for primary schools is to be kept the same.
Cabinet on Wednesday, March 20 agreed to maintain the council’s current
discretionary distance criteria of providing transport for all primary
schools; English, Welsh, and faith schools.
Transport provision to all secondary schools and colleges; English, Welsh, and faith will change to move in line with the relevant statutory distance criteria and this will see the eligibility distance increase from two miles to three miles.
This was one of the alternative options put forward to the original recommendation which would have seen changes for primary schools too.
The report said that whilst the council would be introducing a change to its secondary school and post-16 eligibility criteria, it would nevertheless continue to provide all other areas of its discretionary transport provision in excess of the current minimum Welsh Government statutory requirement.
This would see 305 primary school pupils keep their discretionary entitlement  who would have lost it other under the preferred option that was consulted upon and this is made up of 242 Welsh language primary pupils and 63 faith primary pupils.
The report said this means that the council will continue to offer “a more generous eligibility policy than 18 of the 22 councils in Wales that have already
adopted the statutory distance requirements for both primary schools,
secondary schools, and colleges.”
But it will reduce the potential overall savings from the preferred option that was consulted on (originally £2.5m a year) by around  £200,000 per year.
In terms of background to the proposals, the council has highlighted the significant financial challenges it faces over the short to medium term, with an estimated budget gap of £85.4m facing Rhondda Cynon Taf over the next three years.
The council’s home to school transport costs have increased from £8m in 2015 to over £15m for the 2023/24 financial year.
The financial impact for families 
Councillor Karen Morgan, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, raised concern about the cost of the school day, the effect of child poverty and families trying to cope with the cost of living crisis.
She said the preferred option would “add to those stresses and add to the issue we already have with school attendance in RCT.”
Cllr Karen Morgan said a further burden of more cost by reverting to the two and three mile distance “will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in many of our households.”
She also raised concern about children having to walk long distances to school in extreme heat as a result of climate change and the equality of Welsh and English education.
Concern over the safety of routes and public transport
Councillor Karl Johnson, Conservative, raised concerns about the public consultation process and said he had walked the routes and doesn’t deem them to be safe.
He said he can’t understand how officers can project a £2.5m saving when some of the routes might not be viable or a capital investment may need to be made and said they needed the most up to date health and safety risk assessments.
He also pointed to the Bus Services (Wales) Bill which is making its way through the Senedd which will give councils and the Senedd more control over bus routes, timetables and fares.
He proposed pausing this action until the walking routes have been reassessed, they’ve looked at how many PSVAR (Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations) vehicles are available with potentially a small nominal fee to mitigate the substantial costs to families and that they consider working with Transport for Wales and the regulator to improve bus routes between communities to serve local school children.
Councillor Graham Stacey, Labour, said his main concern is children walking to school in inclement weather saying it would be “really really sad to see children sitting in classrooms soaking wet all day.”
Understanding the financial situation the council faces
Councillor Scott Emmanuel, Labour, highlighted the financial situation that the council faces and as a result of a multi million pound budget gap hard decisions had to be made.
He said: “We know some of these difficult choices will be hard for our residents” adding none of them stood for election to have to make decisions like this but said he realises these are the least worst options.
Cllr Emmanuel said they find themselves in this predicament because of 14 years of “abject failure” by successive Conservative governments and the impact of austerity on families and communities.
He asked if they could look at all options with Transport for Wales to allow pupils to travel for free or at a significantly reduced rate from Treherbert after the disruption there has been as the Metro is built and that the same discussions are held with Stagecoach. 
Call for alternatives to be considered
Councillor Cathy Lisles, independent,  said the council is “between a rock and a hard place” with the cost of school transport and said PSVAR rules mean RCT can’t charge for seats as buses need to be accessible for all and that officers had said they’d need twice the number of buses for the same service to comply with PSVAR.
She said amending public bus service routes is “nigh on impossible” because of subsidy rules.
Cllr Lisles also raised the effect of weather on whether children would be ready to learn, dips in attendance and additional expense of purchasing extra coats and shoes.
She highlighted that schools are now large and more remote establishments all requiring increased access by bus or parents who can drive driving their children to school.
Cllr Lisles also raised concern over the impact on the number of parents sending their children to Welsh medium schools and said that the fact that 79% of respondents disagreed with the proposal needs to be respected and urged the cabinet to consider the alternatives that had been put forward.
Cabinet opts for alternative option that maintains the criteria for primary schools
Councillor Gareth Caple said: “It is clear that this difficult decision has an impact on families already experiencing tough economic times.
“Not one of us in the chamber entered politics to make these unpalatable decisions that will bring difficult consequences to some families and communities.”
But he said all departments are being asked to find savings due to budget pressures not of the council’s making which may mean some difficult decisions.
Councillor Mark Norris said the option to maintain the criteria for free school transport for primary schools seems to be the most balanced in terms of achieving savings while almost minimising the impact on students and families.
He also said they’ll still offer a more generous eligibility than 18 of the 22 Welsh councils and said that keeping the current provision as it is would be “irresponsible” with an £85m budget gap over three years.
Leader of the council Councillor Andrew Morgan said maintaining the position for primary schools would be a preferred option which would help people take their children to school in the rain but also keep the rights of parents to choose which stream of education they put their children into.
Councillor Rhys Lewis said on balance the option to keep the primary school transport criteria as it is does provide some reassurance on the effects on Welsh medium education being mitigated and that it’s a “reasonable approach” to take. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​