School bus service cut for dozens of Wolverley children

Worcestershire Council says is it is looking at commercial alternatives

About 100 children have been told their school bus service has been withdrawn, days before the start of the new term.

Worcestershire Council said it was struggling with rising costs, driver shortages and an increase in demand.

Children in the Wolverley area will be affected and the head teacher at Wolverley's secondary school said he was as shocked as the parents.

The county council said it was looking at options and on Friday said it would temporarily increase capacity.

Parent, Michelle Link, said she received the news in an email on Tuesday, which said there would be no school transport for children who lived outside their school catchment area.

Her reaction was "panic" and she said: "A week before school and I'm suddenly told that there's no viable way to get my children to school."

Her daughter is due to take her GCSEs this year and she said the loss of the bus service was "the last thing we need" at "one of the most vital times in her education".

Ms Link works full time and did not think she could manage the 40 minute journey to school.

Bryn Thomas, head of Wolverley Secondary School, asked parents to "bear with us" and added: "We are only told about this at the same time as parents, we were as shocked as they are, but we are working on a potential solution."

The head of Wolverley Secondary School said it was working on a possible solution

Mike Rouse, the Worcestershire councillor responsible for transport said: "Post-pandemic working patterns are impacting the current situation.

"Parents, previously bypassing their eligibility to drop their kids off en route to work, are now claiming their seats due to increased remote working."

The authority also said there had been a "large increase in eligible pupils, leading to fewer vacant seats available".

Mr Rouse said the council was "exploring options with commercial operators, including the possibility of running a commercial service for Wolverley High School".

However there are currently no commercial bus services that serve Wolverley High School, the authority added.

Confirming the interim plans to increase capacity, the council said it had agreed to provide additional transport until the October half-term.

During that time, it would work with the school and parents to identify the demand from eligible children and look at other commercial options for parents, a spokesperson said.