Decision on free bus passes for Coventry schoolkids delayed

[dutchman]

Children from faith and single sex schools in Coventry will have to wait longer to find out whether they’re entitled to have free bus passes after a council mistake.



At the moment, the City Council fund them, but bosses there have decided they can no longer find the cash for it because of budget cuts.

Legally, they only need to provide free transport for children living 3 miles or more away from a mainstream school.

Last year, the council spent £91,000 more on free school bus passes than they had budgeted for, hence the proposals to change the policy.

An initial consultation on the proposals started in December and ended last February, but it turns out not all parents managed to take part because of problems accessing an online survey.

It means the time limit for people to have their say has been extended to April 8th – the line can be found here

The specialist schools affected had agreed to come together to work out a way to cover the cost themselves, but have subsequently been unable to agree on a deal.

Colin Green, Coventry’s Director of Children’s Services, said: “Clearly it’s always contentious when you take away something people have had for a long time.”

“Schools would obviously like this to continue, and I think schools will look at ways they’re able to support it.”

“All those pupils already at these schools are unaffected – what we want to do is change the policy for young people starting there from 2012.”