Letter on school transport
Below is a copy of a letter we have recently sent to all the local press on the issue of school transport in Leicestershire.
To the editor,
Home to School Transport - some detail
Recent articles reporting the County Council's proposed changes to Home to school transport have rightly focused on the issue of increased charges but tucked away in the Cabinet report seeking approval to a big rise in charges was an even more worrying change.
In deciding to defer the whole report at its meeting on 8th May, the Conservative controlled cabinet sent back to the drawing board a key budget policy that would have removed entitlement to School Transport for hundreds if not thousands of young people that have existed in Leicestershire for over 50 years. The County Council currently provides transport for 17,000 pupils to school, these proposals would mean that in future pupils would only be transported to their nearest school 'as the crow flies'. This means that the nearest school will be defined as that which is geographically closest to the pupil's home address, despite whether this is the school chosen by parents.
In terms of impact, this proposal could mean that pupils from the County could be forced to attend schools in the City or over the County border, if they are deemed as the nearest school. This could mean that pupils in Leicester Forest East or Kirby Muxloe could find that a school in Braunstone is defined as 'nearest'. It would be a disaster for parents in LFE and Kirby Muxloe to see their children forced to attend a school in the city, especially when the Council could afford to send their local councillor Mr Parsons around in a chauffeur driven car.
Luckily the results of the recent consultation clearly rejected the proposed policy, but only 900 people responded and most responded to the issue of concessionary travel for the elderly and disabled. Because the issue has been deferred it hasn't gone away, and we are sure that the Council is keen to get a decision on this as soon as possible.
The question that now needs to be asked is why did it take the Conservatives so long, to realise the significance of the proposed changes to school transport entitlement? Why did a report which I believe the vast majority of parents, school governors and I suspect many headteachers are unaware of, remain on the agenda right up to the day of the meeting and why didn't they take note of the concerns highlighted by Councillors the previous week? Whilst I welcome this u-turn what matters now is how this issue is handled by the Lead Member Lesley Pendleton and the rest of the Conservatives on the Cabinet.
Yours Sincerely,
Simon Galton CC
Leader, Liberal Democrat Group
Leicestershire County Council