SOME children in Caerphilly could face a nearly three-mile walk to school, as the council looks to save money amid “significant financial challenges”.
A new proposal means youngsters across the county borough may lose their access to free school transport because they live too close to their schools.
As part of a cost-cutting exercise, Caerphilly County Borough Council has proposed increasing the minimum distance that children must live away from school if they are to qualify for free transport.
The council has vowed to listen to the public before making any changes, but a local Senedd member has branded the proposals a “retrograde step” which could jeopardise some children’s hopes of attending a Welsh-language school.
Currently, primary school pupils must live at least 1.5 miles away from their school to qualify, but this could rise to two miles under the council’s new proposals.
Similarly, secondary school pupils currently qualify for free transport if they live more than two miles away from their school, but this could now rise to three miles.
This week it emerged the council had spent an extra £1.4 million on school transport last year than originally budgeted.
The council expected to spend £9.6m on home to school or college transport, but actually reported outgoings of slightly more than £11m.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday July 17, members heard that the council was “looking at starting discussions at some point in the future” about making changes to the current school transport rules, as an “opportunity for a saving”.
The council has wasted no time in doing so, announcing publicly the following day it is “considering making changes to its current home-to-school and college transport policy”.
Cabinet members could decide as early as next week to launch a public consultation on the plans in September.
The council’s position is that the cuts to school transport services will save around £1.5m a year.
Transport provision for children with additional learning needs, or who are under the statutory school age or in post-16 education, will not be affected, the council said.
“The council’s transport budget is under significant financial pressure and we are one of the last councils in Wales to offer a more generous discretionary mileage policy,” a council spokesperson said.
“These proposed changes have been carefully considered, but it is important that we consult those affected and fully consider the views of the community before we agree any changes in future.”
Peredur Owen Griffiths, a Plaid Cymru Senedd Member for the South Wales East region, has criticised the council’s proposals as a “retrograde step [which] will limit educational opportunities for children across the county borough and across all different types of schools”.
He claimed the proposals are “particularly damaging for families without a car” and says the changes “may also mean children will not be able to start or continue education in a Welsh medium setting due to the nature of such schools having a larger catchment area, meaning they are often not the ‘local’ school for many of their pupils”.
Such a move could lead to the council “undermining” the Welsh Government’s plans for one million Welsh speakers, Mr Owen Griffiths alleged, adding: “It is a simple fact that walking more than two miles in the rain and wind will be off-putting for even the most dedicated of pupils.”
