Briefing: Crib sheet - School Transport Bill

Been waiting long? Hmmmmmmmm? Um, sorry I didn't catch that. I'm having trouble moving my jaw because my bones have calcified.

Been a while since a bus went past then? Might as well try hang-gliding to work. Thank goodness I don't have to get my children on the bus of a morning. Of course, the Government can't leave that alone either. Guess what they're coming up with next - deregulating school transport in England and Wales.

Really? Yup, with a new School Transport Bill, which will replace sections 509(1) and (3) of the Education Act 1996. It means that local education authorities will no longer be required to offer free transport for pupils in order to facilitate attendance at school. Instead, authorities will be able to make whatever travel arrangements they consider appropriate, and charge for them. At the moment, it is necessary for local education authorities to provide transport for pupils if a child under eight's shortest route from home to school is more than two miles, or three miles if the child is over eight; and if there is not a more suitable school nearby that the child can attend. And the authorities can choose to provide free or subsidised travel to pupils who fall outside these measures.