Mum's 'sleepless nights' on North Yorkshire transport policy

Charlie Fowler, who lives in the Yorkshire Dales, has raised concerns with North Yorkshire Council's policy on home-to-school transport, which was adopted in July this year.

Under the new guidelines, children in North Yorkshire only get free school bus travel to the nearest school. 

School transport protestors at County Hall in Northallerton (Image: STUART BOULTON) Charlie says the decision removes choice for families living in villages and means many will be required to send their children to schools outside the county.

In remote areas Charlie says children will have to travel via remote, high-elevation roads into Cumbria and County Durham to be eligible for free transport.

On the North Yorkshire Council website, the policy states that it provides free school transport to the nearest school if it is over two miles in walking distance for children under eight years of age and three miles for children aged over eight.

A banner at the protest at County Hall in Northallerton (Image: STUART BOULTON) The local authority goes on to say: "The nearest suitable school for transport purposes includes schools in neighbouring authorities. If you live near the boundary, you might find that the nearest school is outside of North Yorkshire."

Charlie is part of a protest group that is calling on the council to reverse their decision to impose new restrictions on free home-to-school transport.

Alongside the protest group, a petition, which has been signed by over 2100 people, has been created and was delivered to councillors at County Hall in Northallerton on Wednesday (November 13).

Protestors in Northallerton (Image: STUART BOULTON) On the same day, the petition was presented to the Department of Education in Westminster by North Yorkshire Liberal Democrat, Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough.

Charlie said: "Since the consultation on this policy, it has raised a lot of questions. I've spoken out at meetings and to the council directly on this and we want change. 

Protestors with their banners at County Hall in Northallerton on Wednesday (November 13) (Image: STUART BOULTON) "Some of the routes that are proposed to send our children on are treacherous and not viable.

"It will split communities up if some children's friends are sent to other schools just because they live a matter of miles away." 

As well as the direct issue of school transport, the North Yorkshire mum believes that it could have a "detrimental" impact on the Yorkshire Dales if this policy is carried forward, with Charlie saying that "families won't want to move to the area".

She added: "We're not happy about this policy and have battled for so long to try and change and reverse this, despite councillors voting it through.

"I've had sleepless nights over this and it's a real concern for my family. 

"I work in the Yorkshire Dales but if I had to travel lots of miles per day to take my kids to school, I'd have to change jobs."

In response to the concerns of parents and elected officials, North Yorkshire Council has insisted that the policy and system they have in place using a digital tool to find eligible schools in the region has worked for "thousands of parents" and has issued a statement on the issue.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Newbold, said: “Our digital mapping tool is used to determine the closest school to a home address. The distance is calculated using roads, footpaths, bridleways and public rights of way. We know that thousands of parents have successfully accessed the system during this year's admissions round.

“The distance measurement is used to determine eligibility for travel assistance after a child has been offered a school place, and where a child is eligible for free home-to-school travel, the council must make suitable travel arrangements.

“In cases where this involves contracting a new transport service, each route is assessed to ensure it is safe for travel.

“We would like to clarify that the routes used by the mapping system are not as the ‘crow flies’ and are unlikely to be the exact journey used to travel to school - this is because the arranged contracts are not necessarily the shortest routes. Instead, journeys need to take account of the home locations of all passengers on the route, local knowledge, vehicle size and time spent travelling.”

The assistant director for inclusion at the council added: “The revised home-to-school transport policy was considered and adopted by councillors in July. It ensures equality and makes sure that free transport is provided for eligible children in line with our statutory duties. Extended support is also available for low-income families.

“We can confirm that a petition with more than 3,000 signatures calling for reconsideration of the decision to change our home-to-school travel policy was handed in at County Hall earlier this morning (Wednesday).

“The petition will be considered by our Richmond Area Committee in the New Year. A date is yet to be scheduled for the meeting.”