Cost of home to school transport for pupils aged over 16 set to rise from £600 to £1,000 a year
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The cost of council-organised school transport for over-16s is set to rise by more than 60 per cent for some families across the county.
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Hide AdThe current policy charges post-16 students at a cost of £600 for a yearly bus pass- the revised policy will see this jump to £1,000 come September 2024.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) overspent by £2.7m on their home-to-school transport service in 2023/24. The current policy has not been reviewed in over 10 years, during which the number of students receiving support has increased as well as inflationary costs.
Cllr Phil Larratt, cabinet member for highways and transport said: “This isn’t an easy situation and it’s something that I don’t think any of us want to do, but we are incurring significant costs primarily due to inflation and we simply can’t ignore an overspend.
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Hide Ad“We wouldn’t be talking about the increases we are seeing today if we had seen sensible year on year inflation increases on costs. The fact is we’ve got an issue that needs to be addressed and addressed now.”
To be eligible for travel assistance under the policy, the student must live in West Northants and attend their nearest suitable school, college or training provider which is more than three miles away.
A consultation on the increased fees showed that 91 per cent of respondents disagreed with the new costs, expressing concerns over affordability.
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Hide AdSimon Frazer, principal of Guilsborough Academy, asked for the authority to consider a phased increase in costs, allowing families to budget and plan their finances around the new fees.
He added: “As a rural academy, the majority of our students use buses to get to and from our school each day. The challenges that this will cause are numerous and include a significant increase in costs at a time when the cost of living is already challenging.
“Families should not be expected to pay for the authority’s decisions, or lack of decisions, in relation to the costs of transport over the last ten years.”
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Hide AdPost-16 mainstream learners from low-income households will continue to receive a 50 per cent discount and therefore pay £500. A SEND pupil from a low-income household will also continue to receive transport free of charge.
For families with multiple children in post-16 education, the cost will be halved for any additional child.
Kim Stephenson, speaking on behalf of SEND group West Northamptonshire Voices in Partnership (WNVP) said: “This proposed hike comes as a shock and concern to our community. This oversight by the local authority will now result in families paying the price.
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Hide Ad“It is unjust and unrealistic to suddenly impose such an excessive increase on families who rely on SEND transport services to ensure their children can access education that they legally must attend.
“These families are already facing numerous challenges and financial burdens in supporting their children with special needs. To burden them further with astronomical transport fees is simply unfair.”
The council has also requested that parents and carers use personal travel budgets, whereby the council gives the family a lump sum termly to organise their own transport. WNC has said this will give greater flexibility to travel arrangements and can often be sourced by parents at a lower cost.
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Hide AdCouncil leader Adam Brown said: “There’s no escaping from the fact that this is horrid and it’s one of those nights when politics comes down to a bad choice or a worse choice. If not this, then what?
“Do we close libraries and museums? Do we reduce homelessness support? Do we engage in a round of mass redundancies? Anything we do to close a budget gap is going to have an effect on people’s lives.
“I don’t feel that an alternative has come forward that will both fill that gap and be a viable alternative.”
The WNC cabinet approved the increased costs and the new policy on Tuesday, May 7.