Marcus Wraight The Politics Show South West

Free transport ... or not?

Secondary school children are legally entitled to free school transport if they live more than three miles away from school.

As long, that is, as the school in question is the nearest state school designated by the local education authority.

Pupils attending religious or grammar schools by choice have no such entitlement. Whether they get free or subsidised buses or have to pay the full cost is entirely at the discretion of local councils.

Torbay Council stopped providing this service free in September 2005. Parents are currently expected to pay up to half of the cost, meaning each parent pays about �200 a year.

And now the council is reviewing its policy again.

It could lead to support being withdrawn completely - and parents having to find �400 for each child who attends the school.

At St Cuthbert Mayne Comprehensive School in Torquay, the staff have noticed a fall in its intake because of the policy. The school is joint Anglican and Roman Catholic.

Parent Sue Witchell, who has three children who attend the school, has started to pay the cost of sending her 12-year-old daughter Rebecca there as she has just started there.

"If the prices increase I think parents will be discouraged from sending their children to the school, particularly if they have more than one child going because it will cost them a lot of money."

Tony Jordan, of Torbay Borough Council, said: "For families in the future it may mean that some will not be able to choose the school they go to and that a consequence of the difficult choices we have to make."

The council, which says it has had a tough budget settlement, says it has three options - keep things as they are, withdraw more of the subsidy (and increase the amount parents pay for school transport), or scrap it completely.

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders says he does not agree with the principle of faith schools, but would defend parents rights to send their children to them if that was the system favoured by the local education authority.

He has urged Torbay Borough Council to be consistent.

He says it needs to decide if it wants the current mix of schools and should continue to help parents if they choose to send them to a selective or denominational one.

"You have choice so long as that can be exercised. That choice is taken away if you put a financial barrier is put in its place."

A decision on whether subsidies will continue or be scrapped will be made after the budget for the next financial year is set in March 2006.

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