Parents of pupil in minibus disaster get MP debate

The parents of a pupil who was among a dozen children killed when their minibus ploughed into a lorry on the M40 in 1993, have secured a fresh debate in Parliament around tougher safety laws.

Claire Fitzgerald and 11 other students, all from Hagley Catholic High School in Worcestershire, died in the crash near Warwick.

The vehicle was being driven by 35-year-old teacher Eleanor Fry, who also died.

Three decades on, Claire's parents are continuing their call for laws requiring all school and college trips to use qualified professional drivers.

"There was a fireball and I'm afraid Claire was one of those who was in the fireball," Liz Fitzgerald said.

Claire's mum said safety around minibuses had "much improved" since her daughter's death but added: "The thing that has not improved at all is that teachers in the states sector are still expected to drive minibuses."

She said it was "very important" children were provided with educational trips but argued "what was not good" was that teachers were expected to drive after a "whole day's work".

"In our case, Ms Fry had been working 16-and-a-half hours," Liz Fitzgerald said.

Steve Fitzgerald, Claire's dad, claimed the current situation was "more than unsatisfactory" with "very confusing regulations".

"If your child is educated in the private school, you have the safest transport system that there can be," he explained.

"Under the law, your school is classed as if, in minibus terms, it is a commercial minibus operator.

"In a state school, you are treated as though you are a scout group, a church group or any other small voluntary sector organisation.

"What we're saying is, 'why should any child be treated differently to any other child?' Particularly around safety."

Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act 1985 allows organisations that operate without a view to making a profit to have a permit, which exempts them from the need to hold a PSV operator's licence when providing transport for a charge.

The parents have since relocated to Staffordshire and their MP, Tamworth's Sarah Edwards, addressed the House of Commons on Thursday where she said new guidance introduced more than a decade ago was insufficient.

She said a change in the law was long overdue, and explained: "Schools are encouraged to consider specialist training but they're not required to do so.

"At the moment, guidance is not strong enough to guarantee children's safety."

The debate was adjourned after the motion lapsed by 17:00 GMT with no major decision taken at the time as to when the debate would resume.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.