Decision expected on school transport cuts after road safety reviews

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Caerphilly councillors will revisit proposals in September to cut school transport services for older pupils.

The county borough council paused the plans earlier this year, after backbenchers called for safety reviews on walking routes affected by the proposed changes.

The local authority also agreed to scrap mooted cuts to primary school transport, but the proposal on the table this autumn could see secondary-aged pupils making six-mile round trips on foot each day.

Currently, pupils across the borough qualify for free school transport if they live more than two miles from school, but the council now wants to increase this minimum distance to three miles.

It argues this complies with the Welsh Government’s rules on statutory provision, and would be in line with the vast majority of Wales’ other councils.

The proposed cuts also have a financial element and cutting secondary school transport is expected to save the council nearly £1.1 million annually.

The council’s spending on home-to-school transport has ballooned in recent years, and cost £12.2 million in the last financial year.

That represented an overspend of £2.5 million on what was previously budgeted for the service.

By comparison, school transport cost Caerphilly County Borough Council £6.4 million in 2015, the authority said.

However, the proposals have proved contentious, with hundreds of respondents to a council consultation saying the cuts would have a direct impact on them or their children.

The majority of respondents who held that view said they would instead have to rely on a car for school transport.

Backbench councillors agreed in January to defer a decision on the proposed cuts until after road safety reviews could be carried out on routes pupils would likely have to walk, if their buses were axed.

The council commissioned “external road assessments”, costing an estimated £192,500, and their findings will be reported to the joint scrutiny committee in early September.

That committee will make a recommendation on the proposals – and cabinet members will meet the following week to consider the backbenchers’ opinions.

A decision is expected at the cabinet meeting due to be held on September 17, and any changes agreed will come into effect in September 2026.

School transport arrangements for pupils who have additional learning needs (ALN) were not included in the proposals and are not up for consideration.