Children walking due to lack of school bus cash

Some teenagers are having to walk to school near Bristol because there is "no money" for more school buses.

Many pupils of Winterbourne Academy come from places like Downend and Frenchay in South Gloucestershire, to the north of the city, and their walking routes to the school have been deemed "hazardous".

Three bus routes were kept for this year, but only after extensive pressure from parents and other services do not have capacity.

Council bosses said the situation was "heartbreaking" but said there was little more they could do to help.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, South Gloucestershire Council chiefs were again urged to help keep the routes running in the longer term, during a cabinet meeting on 11 November.

Libby Rogers, a mother of two children at the school, said: "I want to thank the council for the work that's been done to secure all three routes: the 458, 459 and 427.

"We want reassurance that these bus services are now secured for the future, so that all children who require bus services will have them for future years, and so parents don't have to endure the stress of not knowing how our children will get to school."

She said the council had assessed the walking route from Downend to Winterbourne Academy, and found that it was “hazardous and unsafe”, with pupils have to cross the busy ring road A4174.

She added: “Families have requested this report but it has not been shared. As a result of this, some children, including mine, have had their request for free transport now accepted on a discretionary basis, due to the route being hazardous.

“We’re very grateful for this, however, we’ve heard from other families that they’ve been turned down despite living in a similar area.

"Surely all children who live on this side of the ring road are entitled to free, safe transport to school.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Willmore, cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure, said: “People in this room have seen me in tears about this.

"I’ve found the situation that parents and children have been put in to be utterly unacceptable.

"It was heartbreaking, there was nothing that we could do about it until other people budged a bit.

“There is not the remotest chance, unless something happens next May at WECA, that WECA is going to start funding rural transport."

Parents were previously told by Dan Norris, the Labour mayor of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), that local councils had to pay for bus services that were unprofitable but needed by the community.

Councils pay WECA millions in a transport levy, the majority of which funds bus passes for elderly and disabled people, and also subsidises some services.

The combined authority says the council should increase the levy, while the council says the combined authority should fund these subsidised bus services.

The West of England received over £100m from the government for a Bus Service Improvement Plan, but this is not used to subsidise regular services.

Labour councillor Ian Boulton, co-leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said: “This situation has been absolutely heartbreaking.

"We have no money and our public transport system is broken."

A new secondary school, due to open in 2026, is under construction in Lyde Green, which could be easier for many pupils to get to than Winterbourne.

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