Suspend the implementation of home-to-school transport policy and mend fences with families
The home-to-school transport policy change has severely eroded trust between North Yorkshire Council and the families of schoolchildren. Many families were let down by changes which only allow free transport to a child’s nearest school, rather than eligibility being based on the catchment system.
But while the policy in itself has been frustrating for families, it is the handling of the changes that has turned the whole thing into a debacle.
Now Opposition councillors have called on North Yorkshire Council to suspend the implementation of the policy change with some pupils stuck in limbo, just as school starts.
Councillor Peter Lacey, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the authority, has asked for a moratorium on the review panel hearings currently taking place with parents who have been denied a free bus pass for their child.
It is absurd that the review panel hearings have dragged beyond the start of the school year. And the Lib Dems are right to say that it would be “heartless” to continue holding second stage appeals after the start of term.
This comes amidst the totally unacceptable shifting of goalposts during the hearings. At the first hearings parents were allowed to have a representative who could ask and answer questions on their behalf but that right was removed ahead of recent hearings. The change came at the eleventh hour. Further alienating families.
A moratorium for families stuck in the appeals process would be a show of faith from the council that it is willing to listen and put the concerns of schoolchildren first.