No review of school bus policy this year - council

Parents say North Yorkshire Council officers "cannot be allowed to mark their own homework"

Changes to a home-to-school transport policy which have been criticised by some parents will not be reviewed until next year, a meeting has been told.

North Yorkshire Council voted last year to only pay for transport to a child's nearest school, rather than using catchment areas.

Campaigners against the policy change had called for an independent review this year, but at a meeting on Wednesday the council said it would instead be held in 2026 and would be conducted by council officers rather than an independent body.

Jo Foster, from the School Transport Action Group, told the meeting the policy was "failing families, schools and communities across North Yorkshire".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, campaigners highlighted during the Appeals (Home to School Transport) Committee meeting that documents given to councillors last year stated the review would start in July 2025.

Members of the action group said that by launching a review this year, any changes to the policy would help children starting school in September 2027, while delaying it meant it would be 2028 or even 2029 before families would see any benefit.

Ms Foster said: "Please ask yourself, can this council easily afford three more years of this mess? Families left in limbo, schools destabilised, resources wasted and trust draining away by the day.

"Does anyone here really want this broken policy to be the backdrop to the 2027 elections?"

Meanwhile, any review needed to be transparent and independent and officers "cannot be allowed to mark their own homework", Ms Foster said.

'Open a precedent'

In response, Amanda Fielding, assistant director for inclusion, said it had been decided that the review would start in 2026 because that meant the council could use data from the 2025-26 academic year.

Ms Fielding said that while the council already had some data, other information was still not known.

"Each September and October, we see a settling of the network, and that will be true this year, too," she said.

"Regardless of the policy in place, many children move schools at this time of year, eligibility can change, and this requires adjustments to services, especially over the first half of the autumn term."

Ms Fielding said the council could start to evaluate precise operational costs of the new school year's arrangements by November.

Meanwhile, Sir Stuart Carlton, corporate director for the children and young people's service, said officers would also not recommend that the review be independent of the authority.

"I just think it would open a precedent - a nightmare for any decision-making in the council," he explained.

"You have to remember, fundamentally, decisions are political. They are taken by politicians and they are not independent."

Councillor Kirsty Poskitt proposed that the committee form a working group to ensure transparency and confidence in the review.

However, this was rejected by members after officers said it could use up officer resources.

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