Council spent more than £ 90k taking kids to class

Pupils ferried between schools if subject is unavailable

Taxis ferrying pupils between schools for extra classes cost South Ayrshire Council more than £ 90,000 in a year.

The council splashed out £ 92,541 during the last school year on cabs for kids. The expensive journeys allow pupils to study a subject that is unavailable to them at their own school.

Across Scotland a total of £ 918,768 was spent by councils ferrying pupils from school to school.

North Lanarkshire Council splurged the largest amount on transporting pupils at a cost of £ 290,499 in a year. Next highest was Renfrewshire at a cost of £ 118,099.

Douglas Hutchison, council director of educational services explained:“Some of our secondary schools specialise in particular subjects, so we have young people who move between schools to achieve their learning ambitions.

“The use of taxis represents best value as it’s more efficient to transport young people than employ additional teachers at schools where some subjects are currently unavailable.”

However, Liz Smith, Scottish Conser vative educat i o n spokeswoman, insisted that “the crippling teacher shortage” has led to schools admitting they can’t continue with some classes.