Green councillors and campaigners from South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse have called on the County Council to rethink a decision that could see hundreds of students lose their school bus places from September.
Oxfordshire County Council have told families at 8 schools who can currently pay for transport under the council’s “Spare Seats” scheme that they may no longer have the option to do so as contracts are redrawn for the next school year.
The decision has attracted widespread criticism from parents, who in many cases will have to reduce working hours, move their children to unfamiliar schools, or even move house as a result of the decision.
Councillor Robin Bennett, representing parents of children at Wheatley Park, where over 70 children may be affected, and Icknield school, with up to 36 affected, said:
“We are asking the County Council to maintain its services to all affected schools, while councillors and staff work urgently to come up with a fair, sustainable and long-term school transport policy county-wide. Council staff are stuck using policies dating back to the austerity era and the Conservatives’ local government cuts, which don’t adequately factor in our Alliance’s climate change targets or our new transport plans which aim to remove 1 in 4 car journeys by 2030.
A time-consuming public consultation is required to change school transport policies, so it’s right to maintain the service while that work takes place and a solution is found that works for parents and children. This is not just about money, but is about the message we want to send to young people and their families about where our priorities lie. We need to recognise the right of parents in rural areas to choose schools with long-standing connections to their communities and local catchment areas without being penalised.”
Councillor Pete Sudbury, OCC Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, added “The emissions saved by children travelling by bus or coach, compared to by private car, are at least as great as would happen if all those car journeys were in EVs, and that’s without mentioning the impact on traffic congestion. We need to take a whole new look at climate-smart school travel, especially in rural areas, where journeys are longer, and work together on a constructive solution.”
Katherine Foxhall, a Green campaigner who lives in Uffington where 17 children will lose their bus place said “as well as the obvious environmental impact of forcing hundreds of extra children into cars each day, this is about equity. Some parents will be forced to move children to a different school, others face having to buy a second car, reduce their work hours or even leave jobs entirely because of the time needed to drive a 14 mile round trip twice a day. We understand that there are cost pressures everywhere, but withdrawing this service from so many children cannot be justified.