By Stuart Sommerville
Copyright dailyrecord
West Lothian school pupils could be asked to use free bus passes to take public transport to get to class, in order to cut costs for the council. Pupils using their free bus passes would mean savings could be made on school transport costs. But studies show that it would be easier to get to school than to get home, and more work needs to be done to develop a sustainable service. Conservative councillor Alison Adamson had questioned why the council paid out more than £1,200 per pupil on school buses when the Scottish Government issued free bus passes. Some authorities, including East Lothian, do not pay for school transport. Sustainable school transport was included in a wider review of bus services in West Lothian. In her report to the Environment and Sustainability PDSP Nicola Gill, the public transport manager said: “Although the results of the analysis demonstrate that public transport links are available for some home to school travel journeys, further work is required to review the specific walking routes and infrastructure within each school area.” The initial data review shows that, on average, 70% of pupils across all schools could use public transport for a one-way journey. The report added: “There are localised differences across the school areas where the journey to school may be more accessible than the journey home, Armadale Academy is an example of this. Therefore, the average number of pupils with full accessibility both ways would differ.” There are also issues with catchment areas. One of the largest schools- St Kentigern’s in Blackburn – accepts pupils placements from across the county, from Fauldhouse to Linlithgow. The LDRS revealed in June that West Lothian pays £1,245 per pupil to provide ‘free’ school transport. Councillor Adamson said at the time: “That’s not free in anyone’s language.” Councillor Adamson welcomed the new report. She told this week’s meeting of the PDSP: “The money is something like £1,200 per pupil for school transport. “That money being paid towards a commercial operator to operate services could make a big difference to a lot of communities as well so I’m hoping that the analysis will reap some kind of benefits and also bring in some savings.” The cost to the council for school transport in the last year was more than £3m – but the “use the bus pass” option is not the simple answer it might appear. Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the council has a statutory responsibility to provide school transport for those pupils living over the qualifying distance for home to school transport. Section 42 (4) of the Act clarifies that the statutory walking distance is two miles for any pupil under the age of eight, and three miles for any other pupil attending their catchment school. The council can discharge this duty through contracted school transport, using council owned vehicles, utilising the commercial bus network or even through mileage payments to parents for self-travel. In June a West Lothian council spokesperson told the LDRS: “Although commercial bus routes may exist they may not provide sufficient connection to meet the council’s statutory obligations for school transport. “West Lothian Council has a generous home to school policy which provides transport for secondary pupils living two or more miles from their catchment school and 1.5 miles for primary pupils.” Don’t miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here .
