North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has raised concerns with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Ken Skates, that school children in North Wales are being left in a vulnerable position by local authorities’ strict interpretation of the Welsh Government’s Learner Travel (Wales) Measure.
The measure restricts free home-to-school transport to learners of compulsory school age who live three miles or further from their nearest suitable school.
This has resulted in the Alun school pupils in Sychdyn being left stranded at the bus stop, with the public transport buses going to Mold being at capacity.
Parents have raised concerns amid fears that an accident may happen if the issue persists.
Townlynx, the company providing the transport have put on an additional bus in a bid to ease concerns, but Mr Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to address the measure.
“The measurement they use is often arbitrary, alternative public transport is often unreliable, leaving children abandoned at bus stops, and practical safe walking routes are usually unavailable.
“The most recent example of this, which I’ve written to you about, applies to pupils from Sychdyn in Flintshire who attend the Alun School in Mold.
“This is despite the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure stating that where learners are not entitled to free transport, local authorities have the power to provide transport on a discretionary basis’, and defining that a route is only an available route ‘if it is safe for a child without a disability or learning difficulty to walk the route alone, or with an escort if the age of the child would call for the provision of an escort’.
“In addition, therefore, to the actions that you’ve proposed, which I welcome, how will you monitor and evaluate implementation to ensure, basically, that Local Authorities have got it, and are doing what they can to assist communities like this?”
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Responding, the Cabinet Secretary said: “We recognise the challenge right across Wales that many learners face right now.
“As I say, there are structural problems that need to be overcome in order to address those challenges everywhere. But I would point to the forthcoming Bus Bill as part of the solution.
“Being able to control networks, being able to control routes and timetables, will make a significant difference to the provision of transport for learners. It won’t solve every problem in its own right, but it will be part of the package of solutions that we wish to drive forward.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “In his response, the Cabinet Secretary referred to the forthcoming Bus Bill, but, in the meantime, children are in danger. Daylight hours are shortening and it is simply not safe for children to be left stranded at bus stops. This needs urgent attention.”
