Oxfordshire pupils face losing home-to-school transport

Some pupils travelling to Wheatley Park School in Holton will be affected

Some pupils are set to lose their home-to-school transport from September.

Oxfordshire County Council is withdrawing its Spare Seats scheme on nine routes, affecting more than 200 children.

It allows parents with children not eligible for free home-to-school transport to pay to use spare seats on school buses.

The council said it was withdrawing the places where it was no longer cost-neutral to provide them.

About 235 students currently use the scheme, including buses to Wheatley Park School in Holton, The Warriner in Bloxham and St Joseph's in Carterton.

In the 2022-23 academic year, parents could pay £244 per term for a seat where available, and if the journey was three miles (4.8km) or more.

'Balanced against budget'

Clara Dawe, from Greater Leys in Oxford, said she would have to drive her daughter to school and would no longer be able to take public transport to work.

"I'm quite angry about it," she said. "[The council] haven't put forward to parents and carers if we're willing to pay any more to keep the services going so that the costs remain neutral to them.

"I'd like them to keep the bus going, ask us parents to cover extra costs if we can, and keep the children safely on the bus."

Councillor Ian Snowdon, shadow member for transport, said: "This is clearly going to put lots and lots of children into cars to drive to school.

"It's very unfair and it's certainly not going to help the environment.

"The council have got this claim to want to reduce car journeys by one in four. Well, this is not helping in the slightest is it?"

In a statement, the council said: "In some cases there will still be spare seats available, but not in the quantity there is currently.

"The council is very mindful when making these difficult decisions of the impact on the environment and reducing carbon but this has to be balanced against the council's budget."

About 1,149 pupils who use the scheme will not be affected.