Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the expenditure by local authorities on the provision of free rail passes for pupils (a) up to the age of 16 to travel to their nearest school and (b) from families on maximum working tax credit or entitlement to free school meals; and how many school pupils benefit from such rail passes.

​Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 508B of the Education Act 1996 to make travel arrangements to enable all eligible children of compulsory school age to attend their nearest suitable school. For low income families, there are additional rights to free home to school transport where children are entitled to Free School Meals or whose parents are in receipt of the maximum Working Tax Credit. It is for local authorities to decide how to fulfil that duty. They may, if they wish, provide pupils with rail passes. The information requested is not held centrally, regarding pupil numbers or detailed local authority expenditure.