Council axes free travel for over 16 pupils
PARENTS and carers of children who use transport provided by their council to travel to and from their place of education when they are in post-16 learning will have to pay towards the cost.
Calderdale Council has paid all the costs for transport including minibuses and taxis for learners who have been unable to use public transport where, for example, Metrosupported passes are available, depending on which is the most suitable for the student.
These are often eligible pupils who have special educational needs and, or, disability needs. But escalating costs means some charging will be introduced, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet decided.
Members agreed a contribution equivalent to around £9 a week for those who have the the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Metro) passes but other post-16 students will have to have the fees paid by parents and carers.
Cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Clr Jenny Lynn (Lab, Park) said the council had to do this to relieve pressure on the authority’s transport budget.
Figures show the cost to the council, excluding council minibus runs, has risen from £27,245 in 2018-19 to an estimated £144,932 in 2021-22.
The service is being described as being run at a “significant deficit”, members were told, with the charges seeing the potential cost for 2022-23 reduced to around £75,980, a potential saving of £68,952, and anticipated yearon-year savings in the years to come.
Councils receive no financial help from the Government to provide these services as they are not statutory for those who have reached age 16.
But Clr Lynn said there would be bursaries available to help less well off families.
Clr Adam Wilkinson (Lab, Sowerby Bridge), Cabinet member for Children and Young People’s Services, said: “This is one of those things we wouldn’t really set out to do in an ideal world in which councils are funded adequately, especially given all the things we were saying around the cost of living.
“However, Calderdale isn’t immune to the mounting pressure on local government budgets and when you see the number of users of the service and expenditure escalating year on year over the last three or four years, you can see that it is imperative that we take action now to rein in the costs.”