Birmingham school children and parents are fighting to keep their free buss passes, after the city’s council revealed plans to halve the £12 million home to school transport budget.
The council were planning to save 6 million by cutting back on taxes and assistance for disabled and special needs students, as well as reducing free travel for those who live far away from their school.
However, these plans were scrapped earlier this year, after parents and disabled groups protested against move.
To tackle the problem, the council plan to raise the qualifying distance to school to two miles for under eights and three miles for older children, before free bus passes are supplied.
Children presently need to be more than a mile away from the school gates if they are aged seven or under, and those up to 11 years of age need to be a mile-and-a-half.
The council are also planning to cut transport to faith school.
Special needs children could be re-examined in order to ‘maximise the independence of pupils’ and cheaper options, such as sharing cabs, will also be considered.
According to reports, Birmingham’s growing birth rate will put service under more pressure.
A council spokesman told reporters that they need help from parents in finding solutions.
He said, “We will outline the issues and challenges and want young people and parents to help in finding the solutions. We know of examples in other local authorities where parents have extended the range of service options to include options that reflect their family life. These are local solutions that the council alone cannot explore.
