28/03/06 - School Bus to Warneford - The Facts

Article written by Cllr David Renard, Haydon Wick ward.

Yesterday evening, parents of pupils who currently use the Stagecoach bus to travel from North Swindon to Warneford school met to discuss the options when Stagecoach withdraw from the service in July. Some misconceptions seem to have been formed so we provide the facts here:

• Stagecoach currently run this service in response to parents' preference to send their children to Warneford school
• Parents pay fares on a daily basis which they believe to be the commercial rate for the service
• Stagecoach receive no direct subsidy to run this route
• The Council is indeed withdrawing its block subsidy on child fares as this will bring Swindon into line with most other authorities across the Country. Stagecoach have intimated that they have used some of this to cross subsidise the service but, if true, this has been their commercial decision and is not the Council's decision
• The LEA does not provide school bus travel (paid or otherwise) for pupils whose parents have chosen a school that is not the designated school for the area they live in
• The introduction of free bus transport for the over 60s is not related to the decision to withdraw the block subsidy on children's fares
• Warneford and parents are working hard to find an alternative provider

Cllr David Renard says "As a parent of a child who lives in Haydon Wick but attends Warneford, I am supporting the school to find an alternative bus service from the area. I accept that my wife and I have chosen to send our daughter to Warneford rather than our designated school and that it is not the Council's responsibility but ours as her parents to get her to and from the school. Naturally, I want her to continue to catch a bus from September in the same way she does now."

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "I will be supporting Cllr David Renard, and his fellow parents in their efforts to find an alternative bus service from the area.  We will be contacting the school's business manager to discuss this issue right away, and will report back.  We will also be contacting Stagecoach, as I am at a loss to see how this service isn't already commercially viable?"