Covid: 45-minute wait warning as school buses face disruption

Some children may have to wait at their stop for up to 45 minutes, the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council says

Some pupils have been warned they may face a wait of up to 45 minutes for the school bus because of a shortage of bus drivers and passenger assistants.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council leader Andrew Morgan said school bus services face disruption because of the number of drivers and assistants self-isolating.

He said services were experiencing "severe difficulties" and the council are working to minimise delays.

He said pressure on councils was "at its worst" since the pandemic began.

Mr Morgan, whose council is Wales' third most populated behind Cardiff and Swansea, said spare buses had been brought in but some children could face waits of up to 45 minutes.

"All the services are under huge pressure," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"We're just urging parents to be mindful that if the bus doesn't turn up their child should stay at their collection point and as soon as possible a sweeper bus will pick them up and take them to school...

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"We actually have additional buses out on the network who can be diverted as quickly as possible so we are talking about a half hour to 45-minute wait potentially."

He said it was "difficult to know" how long the issues would last, adding: "We are doing our very best and the contractors who run the fleet of buses to make sure children get to school on time."

He said the authority was trying to run normal services while providing support to contact tracing, vaccination centres and dealing with a number of staff on leave with Covid.

"Actually the pressure on local authorities is probably at its worst now than at any time in the last 18 months," he said.

Bus company First Cymru suspended 15 routes across south Wales on Monday due to a driver shortage.

And it comes as schools in one Welsh health board area have been advised to reintroduce some Covid measures after a large number of positive cases in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

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