Plan to scrap school buses and increase fares

The bus fare increases are the first for dedicated school services for 10 years

Blackburn with Darwen Council's education boss has promised to monitor the impact of changes to its support for dedicated buses to four of its biggest secondary schools.

Councillor Julie Gunn made the pledge as the authority's executive board confirmed proposals to scrap some services and increase fares for pupils on those that remain.

The council had historically provided dedicated buses for St Wilfrid's Secondary Academy, St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Our Lady and St John's Catholic Academy and Darwen Aldridge Community Academy.

Gunn said: "Those pupils entitled to free transport to school will be entirely unaffected."

Cashless system

The cost of tickets for borough schoolchildren attending secondary schools in Bolton will also rise.

The changes were set out in a report by Gunn earlier this week, in which she said the council had subsidised a shortfall for the four schools in the short term.

But this was not financially sustainable or fair to other schools in the borough, or the parents of their pupils, she added.

At the meeting borough growth boss Quesir Mahmood welcomed a plan to move to a cashless system.

He also said: "We will need to monitor any effect on pupil attendance."

Gunn said: "We will keep an eye of school attendance as a result of these changes.

"Pupil attendance is really important to us.

"It is really important to pupils as well in terms of their life chances after school."

The fare increases are the first for dedicated school services for 10 years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.