Parents’ fears over changes to school transport have been put to Wokingham Borough councillors and officers.
Wokingham Borough Council is considering removing fare-paying bus passes for post-16 pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
It also wants to scrap discounts for low-income families who pay for school buses, and tighten rules that say a child is only eligible if they applied for their nearest suitable school.
Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) said the changes are necessary as demand and costs for council-run school transport have risen. But many parents fear it could stop their children from getting to the school they need – especially those with SEND.
Sarah Clarke and Terri Walsh – joint CEOs of the SEND Voices Wokingham parent forum – put those fears to councillors and officers at a meeting on Tuesday, August 15
Two of the top concerns were whether children would be forced to switch schools to remain eligible for support, and whether post-16 pupils would have to choose between the course they want and the travel funding they need.
Ms Clarke asked: “One of the things that families are worried about is key transition points – age eight, 10, 11 and 16. What would happen if they’ve been put not at their nearest school, but their next nearest school, but then there was a place at their nearest school at that key transition point?
“Parents really worry about it in a very complex way, are they going to be expected to move their child from one place to another?”
Ms Walsh challenged a proposed policy on changing support for post-16 pupils. Under the changes, pupils would usually only be eligible for a personal transport budget, and only then to get to their nearest “suitable” college.
WBC officer Ming Zhang suggested the personal transport budget would cover transport to a course that helps pupils “prepare for adulthood” but not “broad educational need.”
But Ms Walsh said: “Parents are really upset and concerned about this.
“If you’re suitable to do a level 1 course you will be sent to your nearest college that does level 1, regardless of whether it’s catering, engineering, music, whatever. So you might want to be an electrician but you will have to go and do catering.”
In response to some other concerns, council officers said that “discretionary” arrangements for pupils who need more tailored transport could still be available.
And councillors at the meeting – the overview and scrutiny committee – voted to make recommendations to the council’s leading executive committee, which will have the final say on Thursday, August 24.
These included considering keeping transport for under fives, producing a guidance document for parents, and making the policy on post-16 transport clearer.
