No social distancing on the school bus

From: Colin Evans OBE, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan.

AS a former county education officer and head of a large comprehensive school where 60 per cent of my pupils came to and from school on contract vehicles, I am at a loss to understand that, at no time, has the question of school transport been mentioned when discussions have taken place on when schools in England will re-open.

Unless children aged five to 18 from rural areas have changed significantly in the 30 years, I cannot begin to imagine how anyone can expect children to maintain a two metre distancing on the school bus.

Has the compulsion to fill the back five seats as quickly as possible suddenly disappeared? Unless every bus has an adult passenger (or school prefect) super-nannying the distancing principle, it raises serious concern for some pupils who could be on the school bus journey for up to 45 minutes.

I cannot believe that this problem has not been raised at any stage in the discussions on when schools should re-open for such areas as the Yorkshire Dales and other remote areas. Perhaps it is another example of how the Westminster government makes decisions to suit families which live within the area bounded by the M25.

From: Christopher Pickles, Gilling East, York.

IN reply to columnist Jayne Dowle scepticism about Rishi Sunak’s plan for supporting a recovery through “green” jobs.

We are currently in the grip of a double predicament – Covid-19 and the climate emergency. The former has compelled many of us to rethink the future: the mitigation of the latter must be behind any remodelling of our economy. If we don’t work purposefully towards a better and greener future, we might as well give up and not even try.

The Chancellor is clearly going in the right direction but we must ask if he is going far enough. The Government must enshrine building standards in legislation, subsidise renewables and tax fossil fuels. We must build a new green industry whose products we can export around the world.