Home to School Transport Consultation Launched

Central Bedfordshire Council is asking residents for their views on how the Home to School Transport service across the area is managed.

Currently there are over 31,000 children aged between five and 15 attending school in this area and free transport is provided daily for around 6,200 of them by Central Bedfordshire Council.

This represents a significant cost to the taxpayer and so a six week consultation is being launched today (6 January 2010) to ask for people's views. We want service users and the wider community in Bedfordshire to help us make this service more efficient and cost effective for everyone.

Providing free school transport to some children is a statutory requirement and a very large proportion of people will remain unaffected. Children who live a long way from their school, have disabilities or come from low-income families will still receive free transport.

Because of guidelines previously set by Bedfordshire County Council, children whose parents have chosen to send them to a denominational school are also eligible to receive free transport. There are also some children who live close to their school but still receive free transport.

The council, working with residents, hopes to find a way to manage the Home to School Transport Service so those that really do need transport do receive it and those that can afford to, or are able to travel to school independently, do so. But this consultation isn’t just about looking at who receives free school transport.

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to supporting families with children with special needs to enable them, where appropriate, to live more independent lives. Through this consultation we will be looking at how we can help those who are eligible to learn independent travel skills. This will be rolled out gradually to help children during different stages of their education and support older children as they move towards more independent living.

Road safety issues will also be assessed and routes will be looked at to see if they need improvement to allow children to walk or cycle to school, where appropriate.

Cllr Anita Lewis, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services at Central Bedfordshire Council said: “We are fully committed to making sure that those that have a statutory requirement for free home to school transport continue to receive it. But we want all residents to take part in the consultation so they can help improve the efficiency of this service that they pay for through their council tax.

“As a new and responsible council Central Bedfordshire Council must challenge the way services were run historically. We must make sure every penny counts and managing our resources in a fair and efficient manner will allow us to do this”.

The Council is now consulting on proposals for changes to the policy to take effect from 1 April 2010 and 1 September 2010. There are seven proposals and as well as asking parents of children who receive free transport currently we will also be holding consultation meetings with the relevant Diocesan Authorities and also with Special School Head Teachers and Governing Bodies.