Another Blunder by Northumberland County Council and the school kids suffer

Council leaders to lobby for school transport cash

COUNCIL leaders have said they will lobby the Government for an increase in school transport funding after a blunder which saw them miss out on more than £100,000.

Last year Northumberland County Council increased the annual cost of transport for post 16 students from £235 to £360 after it emerged council officers had failed to apply to the Learning and Skills Council for funding.And the council has agreed to lobby the Government for a full review of transport funding.

They will also send officers to meet with the DfES to explore why Northumberland has received less than other authorities.The county's executive has also backed recommendations by an all-party working group to talk with rail companies on the feasibility of regional teen travel tickets between Teesside and the Borders.In December it emerged that over the last two years the county council had missed out on £113,000 of transport funding through "control weaknesses" in their own transport department.As a result the county increased the cost of annual post 16 transport passes by 53 per cent to £360 – the maximum allowed under DfES guidelines.Last month the council's Labour group refused to use some of the £12m windfall grant it received from Newcastle Airport to reduce the costs imposed on students, saying it could affect the council tax.An all-party working group was created to look at the post 16 fiasco, as well as other problems associated with home to school transport.

Coun David Montgomery, who chaired the working group, said: "This has been one of the most comprehensive studies of home to school transport issues that has been carried out in Northumberland. "The benefit of this study is that it was carried out by departments across the council, from different political persuasions, as well as partner organisations and from education providers in Northumberland."It makes it clear that there are major issues which the county council currently faces alone which need to be overcome."Since post 16 transport charges were first introduced in 2002, the number of sixth form students using school buses has dropped from 2,700 to around 1,000.
19 March 2007
News Post Leader