Council looks again at 'nearest school' free buses

Parents are to be consulted again on proposals to remove the "catchment" rule from the council's free school transport scheme.

Central Bedfordshire's plans to only fund travel to a child's nearest school were initially rejected in September, because of worries it would result in potential reductions in pupil numbers in some schools.

Leader Adam Zerny said the authority would now re-examine the policy because "at the time we did not truly understand how much of a saving was going to be made".

Steve Kelly, from the Pyramid Schools Trust, said the move would not save money and he was "surprised and disappointed the authority had decided to consult once more on this change".

The council provides transport to about 6,500 children on some 800 routes, including to any school in their catchment area, despite Department for Education guidance that it should only be to their nearest school.

Last year, the Pyramid Schools Trust raised concerns, citing the potential harm to children's education and wellbeing, along with the financial impact on parents.

They were also worried over a projected loss of about £2m worth of funding a year at its Arnold Academy in Barton-le-Clay, Parkfields Middle in Toddington and Harlington Upper.

If the policy change was approved, Zerny said he hoped that over the next three to four years it could save the authority up to £3.7m per year.

He told the BBC: "I think there is due course to reconsider this, but we have not made a decision today - all we have done is decide that we will consult the public."

On the authority's decision to consult again, Mr Kelly said: "Nothing has fundamentally changed in their plans.

"[The council] has failed to realise that by removing existing school catchment areas they will be creating entirely new ones.

"However, this will leave some schools unable to accommodate a massive increase in pupil numbers and other schools will have a large number of unfilled spaces."

He said the policy would "actually increase costs to the authority as they will have to provide transport to several schools from the same village, whereas at the moment, transport only has to be provided to one school".

He added the change would "create uncertainty for parents, harm children's education and cause huge financial issues for schools".

Zerny said the authority was "already aware of what the concerns were a year ago" and asked people to "remember why we did not decide to go ahead with this then".

He added: "We need to be sure that there is a very good reason to do this and I absolutely understand why councillors may be raising concerns."

The change, which is subject to a nine-week public consultation, would need to be approved by the summer to be ready for the next academic year.

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