Brother misses out on school bus pass by 24 metres

A family has been told their youngest son does not qualify for a free bus pass to get him to secondary school - even though his older brother does.

Alex, 11, and Oscar, 13, live in Woodhouse Eaves, in Leicestershire, and Oscar has his bus travel to school funded by Leicestershire County Council.

However, the boys' mum Jo has been told she will have to pay £765 for a bus pass for Alex when he joins Oscar at Rawlins Academy in Quorn, three miles away (4.8km), next term.

She said a new change in the way the council calculated the distance from their home to the school meant Alex had missed out on a free pass by 24 metres (78ft).

Under county council policy, secondary school pupils who live three miles or more from their school qualify for a free bus pass.

In a letter, seen by the BBC, the council said it had changed the mapping software it used to calculate the distance pupils lived from schools in 2023.

The older software used to assess Oscar showed he lived more than three miles from Rawlins Academy.

However the letter said that using the new software, "the walking distance from your address to Rawlins Academy is 2.985 miles (4.804km) therefore your child us not entitled to transport assistance".

"I am sorry this is not the decision you had hoped for," it added.

Jo said: "Our house hasn't slid down a hill. It hasn't moved. We fall 24 metres short of a free bus pass [for Alex].

"You are not talking a few hundred quid - it's £765 per child.

"It's the principle - why should one child get it and one should not? All we are asking is for fairness in the situation."

She said it was unfair one of her sons would get his pass funded but the other would not, and appealed against the council's decision to refuse Alex a bus pass.

A county council spokesperson said: "We are aware of this issue, which is currently going through the appeals process.

"We are unable to comment further while this process is ongoing."

Jo said it would take Alex at least an hour to walk the distance to school.

She said it was not safe for him to do that along country lanes and over fields, particularly in the winter.

"I don't want to send one by walking because it's too far," she added.

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