Welsh proposal to call time on school run

29 June 2007

The Welsh Assembly has proposed giving local authorities powers to adjust school start and finish times in order to ease congestion on the school run.
The proposal is part of a draft measure, published for consultation this week, aimed at improving the safety and efficiency of school bus services. At present, the governing bodies of state schools determine school session times. The measure will also provide free transport to all primary school children, if they live two miles or more from the nearest suitable school. This replaces the current law, under which children are expected to walk three miles or more.
Brian Gibbons, minister for economy and transport, said: ‘Authorities will continue to be able to arrange transport for children who live closer to school – and I encourage them to do so. To assist, I propose to relax restrictions on charging parents so that authorities will be able to charge for transport for children not eligible for free transport.’ He added that the assembly would consider introducing more generous arrangements for school children, if the cost of doing so was worth the benefit. And, in a bid to improve behaviour on school buses, every local authority will be required to introduce a code of conduct enforced by giving head teachers the power to impose sanctions for incidents on buses.
The draft measure proposes to amend the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to extend a school’s behaviour policy to buses. Gibbons said: ‘There have been concerns raised about the behaviour of a minority of pupils on school buses. Parents and children understandably want effective, fair and trustworthy transport arrangements. Many local authorities have introduced codes of conduct already – but there are doubts about whether effective sanctions can be enforced under existing legislation.’
Half of Welsh primary school children now travel to school by car – with one-quarter of rush-hour traffic in urban areas generated by the school run.

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Welsh proposal to call time on school run

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