Anger at cuts to vital bus services

A GROUP of parents say they are devastated by a decision to axe the bus service that takes their children to Gillotts School in Henley.

They are calling on Oxfordshire County Council to rethink the scrapping of its Spare Seats Scheme on school buses that serve rural communities in Watlington, Christmas Common, Cookley Green, Park Corner and Nettlebed.

Up until now, two 25-seater buses served the areas on routes ED2201 and ED2202 and under the scheme families were able to pay for seats not being used by children entitled to free school transport.

But from September the council will be running just one of the 25-seaters on a revised route, carrying 22 eligible students and meaning spare seats are no longer available to buy.

Families who used the scheme say its loss means they will have no option but to drive their children to school, causing huge problems for working parents.

Marie Venables from Cuxham, whose daughter Millie, 13, used the scheme, said: “It has cut off a lot of parents who are working and unable to get their kids to school. They don’t know what they are going to do.”

The county council has a duty to provide school transport for pupils whose nearest school with an available place is more than three miles away. In a letter to parents it said some areas served by the two buses did not have any students entitled to free transport.

A spokesman for the county council added: “The average cost of an individual seat to the council has now risen to around £800. However, the over-three-miles spare seat fare for September 2022 has been set at £733 for the year. This will no longer cover the increase in contract prices, meaning that the council would effectively be subsidising students who are not entitled to free travel.

“It is therefore with great reluctance that we can no longer continue offering the scheme for these students.”

The council has suggested pupils use the public X38 bus between Nettlebed and Henley. But parents say for many of them this is not an option as, even if their children can use the service, it still means a long walk to school from the centre of Henley.

Ms Venables, who moved to Cuxham during the pandemic for more space for home working, said: “There are at least 15 parents I know of who have no other option than to drive their children into school, which means things like working a shorter day. As parents we have looked into paying for a bus to get our children to school but the cost is too high.

“Many parents in rural communities are put at huge disadvantage due to this service ending, but the county council is not concerned or interested in our views. They did not give us an option of paying extra and keeping the route open.”

Joanna McGinn moved to Nettlebed in May with son Milo, 11, who will be going to Gillotts in September, and daughter Anya, eight, who is still in primary school.

She said: “We wanted Milo to get the bus to school and be independent, so it was one of the factors in deciding to move here. 

“It means I will have to use the car, but I’m still not sure how I will get Milo to Gillotts on time. He and Anya don’t start school at the same time and when you are a working parent it doesn’t work to do a double drop at two different places.”

Debbie Carnague, who lives in Nettlebed, previously paid for a seat for daughter Sophie, 14. She said: “It compromises my work situation. I have just started a new job, working fulltime and I’m not in the position to change hours to work around the school run.

“I possibly wouldn’t have made that choice had I not had the bus in situ. It would be 40 minutes at the start of the day and 40 minutes at the end of the day with traffic and parking. We would all be prepared to pay more because it is a necessity to get our children to school. But they have offered us no other option.”

Lynne Pullen, mother of Chloe, 13, agreed.  She said: “If they had come to us and said ‘we can’t subsidise it as much as we have but this is the cost we would have to pass on to you, is that something you would consider?’ I think all of us would have considered it.”

Parents also pointed to the environmental impact of the decision and how it contradicts council objectives to reduce car use.

Rupert Ashby, father of Gillotts pupils Bridget, 11, and Charlotte, 15, who lives in Nettlebed, said: “The council speaks loudly about its environmental credentials, about its desire to tackle the climate crisis and its targets to reduce the number of single-vehicle journeys.

“The reality here is that we have a long-standing bus that has taken children to school for many years and delivers what they are talking about and they are taking it away.

“They also talk a lot about their services to rural areas and social inclusion in general and this decision flies in the face of that. My wife and I both work so getting the children to school will be a major challenge.”

He was also concerned about his daughters using the X38. Mr Ashby said: “The timings don’t fit in easily with the school and you are putting 11-year-olds on a bus with anybody and dropping them off at the bottom of a hill. I have no problem with them walking up the hill but how safe is that in this day and age?

“A busy town with too much traffic is going to experience a serious increase in traffic around school term time in rush hour when nobody will want that. And bear in mind the current stance of everybody on climate change and social exclusion — it is an extraordinary decision at a time when everything else is heading the other way. We implore them to review this immediately.”

Gillotts School headteacher Catharine Darnton said provision of school transport was the responsibility of the county council.

She said she understood the reasoning behind the decision and the school was trying to help as much as possible. If, for example, parents organised a minibus, it would be allowed to use the school bus lane.

Ms Darnton said: “We are trying to help as much as we can, but this is not a problem we as a school can solve. I do appreciate that getting your children to and from school is a core part of family life and that this change is not something that was anticipated.”

The county council declined to comment on parents’ concerns over the environmental impact of axing the scheme.