Local campaigners’ hopes that the new school year could bring improvements to school transport arrangements have been dashed by B&NES Cabinet members’ decision to reject key proposals from a committee review.

The Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting on Monday night was dominated by a paper on the Transport to Secondary School Review previously initiated by the panel.

In responding to the recommendations within the review, the Cabinet members for Children’s Services and Customer Services accepted a number of proposals such as investigating sources of funding for school transport, but crucially rejected proposals on:

• A flat rate weekly fare of £10;
• Cheaper weekly tickets for second and third children in a family;
• Making school transport a priority for the Council;
• Revising the distance which children may be expected to walk or cycle to 1.5 miles rather than 3 miles.

Councillor Nathan Hartley (Peasedown), who is the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet member for children’s services, commented:

I am disappointed that, despite a hard fought campaign by parents and a full review by the panel, the Cabinet is still refusing to take any definite action to address the issue of school transport.

The Cabinet members said in their response that school transport is not a financial priority for the Council and that the Council was not in a position to tell parents what is an acceptable distance to walk to school. The Cabinet has made it clear they are not going to bring about any significant change, and that they will not be willing to look at this matter again.

Everyone in this area knows that if we could improve arrangements for transport to school it would go a long way towards tackling congestion, particularly in Bath. We’re sure many people are looking forward to clearer roads now the school holidays are here – if we could encourage more people to use public transport to get to school, it could be like this all year around.