I WISH to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposed change to school travel, whereby free transport would only be provided to the nearest school.

Firstly, there is no clarity around scope of this proposal.

Since ‘nearest’ refers to the walking distance (including footpaths), parents such as myself are left not knowing which school the council would consider to be ‘nearer’ under these proposals.

Secondly, there is no definitive statement as to when such proposals would be introduced.

Thirdly there is no business case either to justify the proposal, to provide an analysis of the impact on the children (for whose education you are responsible), or to estimate the net financial effect. There is a claimed £250,000 saving – which seems paltry for the amount of disruption likely to be caused across the county – yet there is absolutely no explanation of where this claimed ‘saving’ is expected to come from. In fact, since the council will continue to run existing buses (as it is ‘selling’ places on those buses to parents) and will have to run new buses to alternate ‘nearer’ schools – I am left with the suspicion that the claimed ‘saving’ is actually a net profit due to the additional revenue expected to be generated from parents.

In terms of the wider education system, this proposal effectively destroys the existing catchment areas. It is ridiculous that parents are encouraged by the council to send their children to schools in the catchment area and then – weeks later – will be financially penalised by that same council for not sending their children to the nearest school.

I can already see many children worried by this proposal – which is particularly uncaring for those presently in their GCSE years. It is likely to disrupt many year groups and cause groups of children to be relocated en masse from one school to another. At the same time some children will have parents who can afford to subsidise council transport and so year groups will become fragmented.

We live in a rural county where many families are feeling the financial pressures of the current economic climate. Whilst many of these families are not poor enough to qualify for benefits, they will be unable to afford the charges. Many will use their own transport, increasing the amount of traffic on the roads, increasing the risk of traffic accidents involving school children, and completely contradicting your claimed position on protecting the environment and combating climate change

JR Best

Tunnel Lane

Orleton