Wrexham councillors slam ‘grossly unfair’ decision to withdraw bus for pupils travelling to Flintshire school

Councillors in a Wrexham village have slammed a “grossly unfair” decision to withdraw a bus for youngsters travelling to a school in a neighbouring county.

About 50 pupils currently use the paid service from Llay to Castell Alun High School in Hope, which is located three miles away inside the Flintshire border.

However, parents recently received a letter from the secondary school to inform them the bus would no longer operate from September.

Headteacher Paula Williams and chair of the governing body Helen Williams said social distancing requirements meant extra costs would be incurred by the school, which it could not afford to cover.

They suggested children could instead use the train to get to school, despite the village not having its own station.

Llay councillors Rob Walsh and Bryan Apsley have strongly criticised the move, calling it “premature” and have now asked the school to reconsider.

In a joint response to the headteacher, they said: “We are writing to you to express our deep concerns at the decision made by Castell Alun High School governing body`s finance committee, to cease operating the paid bus that covers Llay from September. It is our belief that this decision has been made prematurely.

“It is our understanding that the decision to scrap this paid bus service was made due to concerns over the need to socially distance on school transport.

“(It is) a concern borne out of a reduced capacity leading to the service becoming financially unviable.

“However, this decision appears to have been made before the announcement on Thursday 9th July, 2020, by Education Minister Kirsty Williams that all Welsh schools are expected to re-open for all pupils by Monday 14th September.

“As a result of this announcement, it has been deemed impractical to expect social distancing on school transport.”

The two community leaders said they understood the school had no legal obligation to provide transport for the pupil and could not afford to subsidise services.

However, they described the bus as “a lifeline” for children whose parents don’t drive or start work early in the morning.

They said: “Suggestions of walking to Gwersyllt to catch the train or getting taxis are not appropriate.

“These children, like all pupils at your school, have had their education disrupted in a major way as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There is a danger that several dozen children from Llay will continue to have their education disrupted and that is grossly unfair to them.

“Ideally we would like to you to reconsider this decision, but failing that could you at least delay this by a year to give parents and children, who have already suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, more time to consider their future options.”

In the letter to parents, the headteacher and governors’ chair also partly blamed new accessibility requirements which apply to transport in Wales for the decision.

The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 relate specifically to coaches designed to carry more than 22 passengers, and are due to come into effect in the near future.

They said: “Schools/local authorities are only able to charge 20 per cent of users when they use a school bus and there must be accessibility arrangements on all buses. This has also impacted on our decision.

“Obviously we realise that this may well cause some issues and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience at this particularly challenging time.

“The school is fortunate that the train station in Hope is only a five minute walk away and there are regular services on the Wrexham-Bidston line which your child may be able to access.

“Due to lockdown the current bus service did not operate after 20th March, 2020 and therefore the school’s finance department will refund any money due to parents/carers.

“Unfortunately, a combination of events has made this decision inevitable and we thank you for your understanding and patience.”

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter