THERE were angry cries of “shame” and “it’s a disgrace” at Warrington Town Hall when council chiefs voted unanimously to end free school buses except when legally obliged to do so.
Nearly 60 residents – mainly from Grappenhall and Thelwall – crowded into the council chamber after staging a demonstration outside.
Spokesman Richard Scobie put forward the residents’ arguments – including an outspoken criticism of the consultation process which had taken place.
But members of the council’s executive board voted through the changes, which will come into force next September and will save an estimated £180,000.
They agreed, however, to continue to provide free transport for pupils from low income families already receiving support and to continue support to Year 10 and 11 children for two years to avoid disrupting their education..
Several hundred children will be affected by the changes – mostly youngsters from the Grappenhall and Thelwall areas who attend Lymm High School
Mr Scobie argued that the council had carried out consultation during the summer holidays when many parents were away. Consultation meetings had been difficult to understand and the council had refused to meet the governors of Lymm High School or Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council to discuss the issues.
The consultation had not, in fact, been a two-way process.
He questioned whether Lymm High School could attract enough pupils without those from outside its catchment area..
But Cllr Colin Froggatt (right), executive member for children’s services, said the council had carried out consultation over almost 13 weeks, when the statutory period was only six weeks.
They had organised drop-in sessions which were in addition to the statutory consultation process because they thought these would be helpful to people.
He pointed out that Lymm High had become an Academy, free of the control of the local authority. It could apply its own admissions criteria.
The council faced cuts in government support of more than £60 million over two years and this made it increasingly difficult to continue with any sort of discretionary spending.
He understood that parents had an expectation of free school transport, but regretfully the council could no longer meet the cost.
After the meeting, Ken Edwards, of the “Say No” campaign said the fight would go on and consideration was being given to a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman .
He said: “This executive board has the bare faced cheek to allocate £370,000 to their ‘executive initiatives fund’ to pay for council entertainment at at the same time cut front line services we pay for out of our taxes.”
Pictured (top): school bus campaigners outside the Town Hall.
19 Comments
In the days of yore when I went to High School, the council only provided free transport if the journey was for more than four miles * – i suspect that would, for example, exclude most the kids who travel from the Padgate area to Birchwood High School.
(* as it happens my nearest school was that far away, like most areas of the country, my home town didn’t have as many high schools as Warrington has in such a small geographical area)”
When I attended Lymm Grammar in the late 60s, we traveled from Walton (over 5 miles) because it was the nearest school. We still had to pay the bus fare even though there was no other school available. More recently when our son went to secondary school, if he had used a bus, we would have had to pay for it, no free bus was offered. There are buses which go through Grappenhall and Thelwall to Lymm, perhaps requiring a walk at either end, but these are children are at the age when they should be developing their independence and a good way to start is going to school on the bus.
I often wonder how the parents such as those who attended the protest spend their money, SKY TV, fancy holidays, new cars, designer clothes etc etc, maybe they could well afford the bus fares, but don’t want to, preferring instead to have less well off taxpayers fund them. It is all a question of personal priorities I guess.
According to the article, the residents’ spokesman “questioned whether Lymm High School could attract enough pupils without those from outside its catchment area”
So they want to become an academy , cut the shackles of the council having responsibilty and supposedly run its own finances, but have people in other parts of the borough subsidise the transport needed for its (for want of a better word) business plan to work
They can’t have it both ways.
“Mr Scobie argued that the council had carried out consultation during the summer holidays when many parents were away”
If they can afford holidays they can afford bus fares!
These people have had it too good for too long
I did five years travelling from Bewsey to Boteler Grammar School in Latchford. Two buses either way and all at my parents expense… we lived on a council estate; not a big house in Grappenhall or Thelwall…. and anyway, can’t they take their kids to school in their 4×4’s!!!
I can’t believe these comments. I’m not affected by this decison, but I can’t see a problem with having free school buses. You have certainly jumped to quite a few conclusions about the parents of children who will be affected. What a bunch of selfish, narrow-minded people you are.
” Free bus” is a misnomer – it has to be paid for somehow – and there are better ways to spend OUR money.
I would totally disagree with you. There is NOTHING more valuable than our children. I don’t have school age kids, but I’m selfless enough to see that providing a school bus in 21st century England should NOT be an issue. If you have an axe to grind about how your taxes are spent, I could suggest numerous, far more worthy, targets. What will you be complaining about next? The massive increase in parents driving their kids to school on the school run? As you put it in a previous comment; you can’t have it both ways!!
They have the audacity to have HOLIDAYS too?!?!?! Who do these people think they are!! They’ll be having shoes on their feet next!
What you very narrow minded people fail to realise is that not all people living in Grappenhall/THelwall can afford £350 a year for the next 7 years to send their child on the bus to school. I personallly would have to find an extra £700 a year to send my kids. The main point is we do not have a local school big enough to fit all the kids from Grappenhall, Thelwall and Latchford in it. The council have basically done what the majority of others on here have done andassumed on here that we can just put our hands in our pocket and find this extra money….. Well we all can’t !!!! We can all be jugemental, how many of you that have made negative comments on this topic actually work and pay your own taxes
Touched a nerve there did it Andy?
It’s all about priorities, and nowadays parents are more bothered about their lifestyle than providing for their offspring.
Time to get real
if your children were attending their catchment, or nearest available school, and lived more than 3 miles away by safe walking route, they would get free transport.
I guess there is some parental choice going on here, and having to pay for the bus is a consequence. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
We are attending our local primary schools and designated partner high school but the council have redifined appropriate secondary school to mean closest secondary school. Two of these schools are faith schools and none of the closer schools have more than a handful of places(if any) spare, but the council say that if 1 space is left in any of the schools then all those going to Lymm have to pay transport. How do we decide which children are sacrificed to go off in the opposite direction to school without their friends.
Parental choice has messed up capacity at lots of schools, and this is one of the consequences!
This has nothing to do with parental choice but the capacity of the high schools in south Warrington. We are at Lymm high school because that is the high school designated as a partner school to our local primary school by the council. There is no room for us at closer secondary schools. The council are using this odd space in a nearer school to get out of their legal requirement to pay for transport. If there was a closer school or if the council plans to expand the closer schools to accommodate the whole of one of our primary schools then I have no problem sending my children there.
How can we take the council seriously when their own suggestion of a safe walking route between Thelwall, Grappenhall and Lymm is the Trans Pennine Trail? What is the safe walking route? Is crossing at the Springbrook safe? Or Calmsley Lane where there is no pavement?
Exasperatedmum – well done for sticking to the facts in this case and not reacting to the trolls – Lymm High school is over 3.5 miles from East Thelwall, so the council has a choice – develop Boteler to hold 500 + extra pupils, or comply with the present law to provide free transport (3 miles+ ) to the nearest school with capacity – Lymm HS.
I would be interested to know how many millions it would cost to add another 500+ pupil capacity at Sir Thomas Boteler.
Sorry to disappoint, but no nerve touched, I’m afraid. As I said in another comment, this doesn’t directly affect me as I don’t have school-age kids. However, I’m open minded and selfless enough to ralise that this is a seriously bad decision by the council. You make many assumptions about the parents affected by this, with few (if any) facts to back it up.