Additional school travel expenses for Ripon families
It comes following changes to the Councils school bus transport programme
Some parents in Ripon are now having to pay for travel to the local Grammar School.
The decision by the Council last year, highlighted that the Academy was closer than the Grammar School meaning parents were told by the authority that it would no longer be able to fund free bus journeys to and from the school.
It came as the council needed to make spending cuts due to rising cost of home to school travel having an effect on the other services they have to deliver by law.
In a statement last week North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Fielding, said:
“Our home to school transport policy is designed to be fair and consistent for families across North Yorkshire.
“We are one of the highest spending local authorities in the country on home to school transport. If we had done nothing, then the rising cost of home to school travel could have a crippling effect on the other services we must deliver by law. The previous eligibility under the ‘catchment’ criteria was a discretionary provision.
“Unfortunately, we simply cannot afford to operate a more generous policy due to the acute financial position we are in.
“We have a responsibility to arrange transport for pupils who are eligible for free home to school travel. Therefore, we will put in place the most cost-effective and appropriate transport options for them.
“In the same way as previous years, this may result in spaces being available to buy for parents of children who are not eligible for free travel to and from school.
“Parents and carers still have a choice as to where they send their children, the policy approved in July 2024 does not change that.”