Faith school bus scheme is at risk

Derbyshire County Council is considering ending discretionary transport subsidies for students attending schools preferred on grounds of religion or belief.

Any decision about whether or not to make the changes would only be made following a full consultation.

Coun Kevin Gillott, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for Children and Younger Adults, said: “We are extremely disappointed to have to consider ending subsidised transport to faith schools.

“Sadly we have no choice because of £157m cuts the Coalition Government has told us to make over the next five years.

“It currently costs us £1m a year to provide transport for 1,680 pupils whose parents or carers have chosen to send them to a faith school.”

To have your say, fill in a questionnaire which is available at https://derbyshire.gov.uk/faithschooltransport or by calling 01629 533365 to make their views known.

Letters are also being sent to parents of children who attend faith schools across Derbyshire to let them know about the proposed changes.

The consultation will end at 5pm on Monday 2 December.

Results of the consultation will be considered by the county council’s Cabinet before a decision is made in the new year. The proposed changes would not come in to effect until September 2015.

Councillor Gillott added: “We want to hear from as many people as possible so we can do our best for all Derbyshire children and families.

“We want to ensure we treat everyone fairly while making sure we’re giving Derbyshire taxpayers the best value for money.”

Under the proposed changes the authority would still continue to meet its legal duty to provide free home to school transport for the 9,000 pupils attending schools in their “normal area”.

This free transport is given to pupils attending their “normal area” school if it is more than three miles away from their home for secondary-age students, or two miles for primary-aged children.