School bus cuts announced for Bradford, Leeds and Kirkheaton

Affected services will end in July, the authority has said

Eleven school bus services are to be cut after they were deemed too expensive to keep running.

The services cover 17 primary schools - 11 in Bradford, five in Leeds and one in Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), which runs the services, said in most cases the buses were carrying only a very small number of pupils.

Services will continue to run until the end of the academic year, but will not return in September, it said.

The move will save around £530,000 a year, according to the authority.

Speaking at a regional transport meeting on Friday, where the decision was rubber-stamped, WYCA's director of transport Dave Pearson said inflation and rising costs had fuelled a review of the services.

He said: "A lot of primary schools are within a relatively small walking distance of the catchment areas they serve. In some of these areas, the children using the services are within a mile of the school.

"If we had unlimited resources, it might justify putting a bus on that carries, 30, 40 or 50 pupils. But in most of these cases they've been carrying, three, four, five or six pupils."

'Scarce resources'

Bradford Conservative councillor Peter Clarke said the news was "disappointing".

Steeton Primary School, which sits in Mr Clarke's Craven ward, is among those affected by the move, with the P23 among those cut.

He said: "I understand resources are scarce, but in very rural areas I think a more pragmatic approach needs to be taken."

A further six school services which had been at risk of the axe have been retained. In some cases, routes have been changed or services have been linked to others to reduce costs.

Protests from parents and a lack of alternative commercial bus services on some routes have contributed to the decision to retain others.

Services to end at the end of the 2022/23 academic year

P11 - Bradford - serving Iqra SchoolP23 - Bradford - serving Steeton SchoolP31 - Bradford - serving Cross Flats and East MortenP32 - Bradford - serving Cottingley VillageP34 - Bradford - serving St Joseph's RC and Trinity All Saints CEP44 - Leeds - serving - St Theresa's RC P73 - Leeds - serving St Urban's RCP74 - Leeds - serving Iveson and Holy Name RCP76 - Leeds - serving Holy Rosary & St Anne's RCP99 - Bradford - serving Ashlands, All Saint's CE, Ben Rhydding and Sacred Heart Catholic SchoolS13 - Kirklees - serving Kirkheaton