Boy misses out on bus pass
A SCHOOLBOY has to walk two miles to school every day after being denied a bus pass – despite his next-door neighbour qualifying for one.
Hudson Blake-Griffiths, 11, lives 2.1 miles from St John the Baptist School in Aberdare, but a new walking route calculated this year means he does not qualify for a free bus pass.
The new route calculates that Hudson lives just 1.97 miles from the school, which means he falls under the twomile catchment criteria.
This is despite his next-door neighbour being granted a bus pass, living just the additional four metres away.
“We have to drive past the bus stop every morning, and all his friends who live in the same street are there,” said Hudson’s mum, Kiri.
“It is his first year in secondary school, and we just assumed he would get a pass because our neighbours have one.
“We found out he wasn’t getting one at the end of July, so we appealed that but we were told that they can’t do anything as he can walk the new route they have decided on.
“He is 11 years old. I don’t think he should be walking two miles along a route that I think it dangerous, especially during the winter months.”
After attempting to appeal the decision, Kiri tried to apply for a paid place on the bus, but was told it was too late and there was no room for Hudson.
However, she claims the bus regularly has spaces left on it.
Kiri said: “It would probably take him around 50 minutes to an hour to walk the two miles every morning, he would be tired before he even got to school.”
Kiri and her husband Damian, 35, both work full-time hours between 9am and 5pm, which means they can’t pick Hudson up from school.
“It isn’t so bad in the morning as we can take him there, but in the evenings, especially as the days get darker, I don’t want him walking home.
“He is only 11, and he is a little nervous about walking home. The path is secluded and also crosses over a busy road. I think it is dangerous to ask a child to walk that far by themselves.”
Kiri is worried that something could happen to her son, especially since the death of a teenager in the area this summer. She believes the decision to grant children a free bus pass should not just be based on the distance, but also the age of a child.
A spokesman for Rhondda Cynon Taf council said the council was more generous than the three-mile statutory guidance set by Welsh Government.
The spokesman added: “Free school transport is given to pupils living more than two miles from their nearest or catchment school – a generous provision in comparison to Welsh Government’s statutory provision for this age group, which stands at three miles.
“The council uses consistent criteria to determine eligibility, measured by the shortest safe walking distance – while additional factors are also considered such as whether it is safe for the pupil to walk along or accompanied by an appropriate adult.
“The pupil from Abernant has been assessed as living 1.972 miles from the catchment faith school and is therefore not eligible for school transport.
“The walking route from Abernant to St John Baptist Church in Wales High School is long established and in daily use. Inevitably, there are some pupils who fall just outside the two-mile entitlement limit, but the council must be consistent in its provision for all pupils.
“The council calculates route measurements using government-standard Ordnance Survey data, accurate to 1m and generally accepted as the most accurate available. The use of alternative methods of measurement for different children from various addresses would not be appropriate, as it would be less accurate and create inequality between families.”