Teenagers are walking along dangerous roads to get to a high school in South Gloucestershire because there is “no money” for enough school buses. Council bosses said the situation was “heartbreaking” but claimed there was little they could do to help.
Many pupils of Winterbourne Academy, in a village north of Bristol, come from the north fringe of the city, in places such as Downend and Frenchay. But their route walking to the school was deemed “hazardous and unsafe” and existing bus routes don’t have enough capacity.
Three routes were kept for this year, but only after extensive pressure from parents. South Gloucestershire Council chiefs were again urged to help keep these routes running in the longer term, during a cabinet meeting on Monday, November 11.
Libby Rogers, a mother of two children at the school, said: “I want to thank the council for the work that’s been done to secure all three routes: the 458, 459 and 427. However this seemingly only followed after significant pressure and campaigning from parents and carers.
“We want reassurance that these bus services are now secured for the future, so that all children who require bus services will have them for future years, and so parents don’t have to endure the stress of not knowing how our children will get to school.”
Parents were previously told by Dan Norris, the Labour mayor of the West of England, that local councils had to pay for bus services that were unprofitable but needed by the community. Councils pay the West of England Combined Authority millions in a transport levy, the majority of which funds bus passes for elderly and disabled people, and also subsidises some services.
The situation is complicated as the combined authority says the council should increase the levy, while the council says the combined authority should fund these subsidised bus services. The West of England received over £100 million from the government for a Bus Service Improvement Plan, but this isn’t used to subsidise regular services.
Recently the council assessed the walking route from Downend to Winterbourne Academy, and found that it was “hazardous and unsafe”, according to Ms Rogers. Pupils have to cross the busy ring road A4174, for example.
She added: “Families have requested this report but it has not been shared. As a result of this, some children, including mine, have had their request for free transport now accepted on a discretionary basis, due to the route being hazardous.
“We’re very grateful for this, however, we’ve heard from other families that they’ve been turned down despite living in a similar area. Surely all children who live on this side of the ring road are entitled to free, safe transport to school.”
However little is expected to change, according to council bosses, unless Labour lose the upcoming elections next May and a different political party takes control of the West of England. The combined authority was criticised by leading councillors in South Gloucestershire.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Willmore, cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure, said: “People in this room have seen me in tears about this. I’ve found the situation that parents and children have been put in to be utterly unacceptable. It was heartbreaking, there was nothing that we could do about it until other people budged a bit.
“There is not the remotest chance, unless something happens next May at WECA, that WECA is going to start funding rural transport. I’ve been told to my face by senior WECA officers that I’m mad if I ever think they’re going to fund rural transport.
“When WECA was created, it became the statutory transport authority. That means every penny of government money relating to public transport goes to WECA — not here, to WECA. But we were left with a residual set of powers relating to transport, and that’s where you’re getting the runaround. WECA relies on that residual set of powers to say ‘well, it’s down to them’.”
She added that previously the council has found “a little bit of money” from other places to temporarily fund some bus routes. But now those pots of money are running out. The council does have an £8 million budget for home-to-school transport, but this also includes paying for taxis for disabled children to get to school, and is subject to confidential applications.
A new secondary school is under construction in Lyde Green, which could be easier for many pupils to get to than Winterbourne. Once the school opens in September 2026, children living in areas like Downend will be able to go there instead of Winterbourne, easing some of the issues.
Labour Cllr Ian Boulton, co-leader of the council, said: “This situation has been absolutely heartbreaking. We have no money and our public transport system is broken. We’ve tried our best to come up with a solution, and it is cobbled together.
“It’ll become easier because we now have Lyde Green being built, and a lot of children have had to go to Winterbourne Academy because Lyde Green wasn’t even being built last year. That will take some of the pressure off.”