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18
Sept
No review of controversial home-to-school transport policy until next year, councillors told
A review of a controversial home-to-school transport policy will not start until next year and will be conducted by council officers rather than an independent body, councillors have been told.
Campaigners told North Yorkshire Council that officers “cannot be allowed to mark their own homework” by conducting an in-house review of the rule change.
But a meeting of the authority’s children and families overview and scrutiny committee yesterday (September 17) heard that allowing the post-implementation review to be conducted by an independent body could set a precedent that would be a “nightmare for decision making” in the future.
The policy change means the council will only pay for a child’s transport to their nearest school, meaning children will not get free transport to their catchment school if it is not their closest.
The changes have hit families in the Harrogate district, with parents in villages south of Ripon are having to shell out hundreds of pounds extra this year for school bus passes.
Jo Foster, from campaign group School Transport Action Group, which was formed to fight the policy change, told the meeting the policy was “failing families, schools and communities across North Yorkshire”.
STAG protested at County Hall in Northallerton on the day the council voted for the policy change.
STAG has highlighted documents given to councillors last year, which said the review would start in July 2025, despite the council now proposing it starts next July.
By starting this year, the group claims any changes to the policy would help children starting school in September 2027, but delaying the review a year could mean it would be 2028 or even 2029 before families see any benefit.
Asking for the review to start this year, she added:
Please ask yourself, can this council easily afford three more years of this mess?
Families left in limbo, schools destabilised, resources wasted and trust draining away by the day. And does anyone here really want this broken policy to be the backdrop to the 2027 elections?
She said the review needed to be transparent and independent, adding:
Given everything that has happened, officers cannot be allowed to mark their own homework.
In response, Amanda Fielding, assistant director for inclusion, said it had been decided that the review would start in 2026 because this meant the council could use data from the 2025/26 academic year.
The officer said that while the council already had some data, other information was still not known.
She added:
Each September and October we see a settling of the network, and that will be true this year too.
Regardless of the policy in place, many children move schools at this time of year, eligibility can change, and this requires adjustments to services, especially over the first half of the autumn term.
We know that the network usually settles after a couple of months and by November we can start to evaluate the precise operational costs of the new school year’s arrangements.
Responding to calls for the review to be independent, Sir Stuart Carlton, corporate director for the children and young people’s service, said officers would not recommend it.
He added:
I just think it would open a precedent — a nightmare for any decision-making in the council.
And you have to remember fundamentally, decisions are political. They are taken by politicians and they are not independent.
Councillor Kirsty Poskitt proposed that the committee form a working group to ensure transparency and confidence in the review, but this was rejected by members after officers said it could use up officer resources.
The plan to start the review in 2026 has been criticised by opposition councillors.
Reform group leader Councillor Tom Seston, said:
We’ve seen the council move the goal posts with their decision to not allow representatives into appeal hearings.
What we’re now seeing is the council award themselves some extra time in the hope they can tire out the other team.
Green group leader, Councillor Kevin Foster, said:
It’s very disappointing to see such a lack of urgency in tackling the home-to-school transport review.
Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Peter Lacey also spoke out against the delay.
“It’s deeply disappointing that the council is not only refusing to act to improve the situation for families, but also unwilling to listen,” he said.
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