Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help families with the cost of school bus fares in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.

The Department’s school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education due to a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free home to school travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low income families.

Most central Government funding for home to school travel is made available to Local Authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). DLUHC will bring forward proposals for the LGFS 2024/25 in the usual way later in the year. Local Government spending will be carefully considered to ensure councils can continue to deliver vital services.

The Department provides grant funding to Local Authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights travel for children from low income families. This is just under £45.8 million in the 2023/23 financial year. The Department will shortly be calculating Local Authorities’ allocations of this grant for 2024/25.

Fares and concessions on public transport are set by transport operators and it is for them to decide whether and how to implement any concessions for children travelling to school. The Government is offering support to help people with costs such as childcare, bills and transport. The Government’s dedicated website provides more information about cost of living support, which is available at: https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/.