Discretionary school transport for children attending faith schools in Gedling borough could end next year
The Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council has been reviewing its discretionary bus service that serves more than 500 pupils attending Catholic and Church of England schools.
In a cabinet meeting next Thursday (July 16), the authority is recommending that it ends this discretionary transport from September 2027 after facing “significant financial pressure”, where any savings could help the council achieve its multi-million-pound savings plan.
Currently, 520 pupils attending these faith schools in Nottinghamshire travel there on council-subsidised transport, where parents cover around 20 percent of the cost and the council paying the remaining 80 percent. It costs the authority around £1 million a year to run the service.
The County Council’s consultation on the topic closed in June, including removing the scheme from either September 2027 or 2031, maintaining it or increasing parents’ financial contributions.
But it appears the authority has come to a conclusion, where, depending on the cabinet’s approval next week, the scheme could be removed by September 2027.
Speaking on Tuesday (July 7), Councillor John Semens (Ref), deputy cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “We’re aware this is a very sensitive and emotive issue, but as all councils in the country, we’re all under the same financial strain and this is a discretionary service, it’s not part of our statutory obligations.
“We need to make sure it’s fair and equal when you’re using public money… we’ve pledged to find savings where we can and one of the areas we’re going to look at is the non-statutory services we provide.”
Cllr Semens said it is estimated around 22 percent of the 520 impacted pupils would not have access to their school with public transport and be able to “easily” get there, saying the authority “fully recognises the upheaval that may cause”.
Any changes will not impact those pupils who come from low income families and the authority says a mitigation package, involving journey planning, will be available for families.
The council says its cost of school transport across mainstream and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools has increased by 75 percent in the last four years, where current projections estimate a further 36 percent increase over the next three years.
For 2026/27, the cost of mainstream school transport, which includes the faith scheme, is forecast at £11.7 million, up from £6.3 million in 2022/23. For SEND school transport, this cost is projected at £28.8 million for 2026/27, up for £13.7 million in 2022/23.
The budget for faith school travel has risen in recent years. In the 2023/24 financial year, the council spent £1.34 million, rising to £1.46 million in 2024/25 and the 2025/26 budget stands at £1.54 million.
Cllr Semens said the around £900,000 saving from the scheme is not a huge amount of money “in the grand scheme of things”, but it “makes sense” for the money to be put back into its statutory services – services which are often struggling.
David Langford, director of highways at the authority, said the council was aiming to save about £45 million over the next three years.
He said: “Regardless of where the specific pound [within the saving] gets allocated, based on the medium term financial strategy, if the savings aren’t made then in a few years’ time council tax the Nottinghamshire community is going to be higher than it would otherwise… every household will have to pay a piece towards that £45 million.”
James McGeachie, chief executive of Our Lady of Lourdes Multi-Academy Trust, previously told the LDRS in June removing the service would mean children’s safety would be “put at risk” with longer journey times and walking in the dark.
In a statement he said: “Their safety and well-being would be put at risk due to longer journey times and the need to change buses, often in large towns or rural areas and in many cases having to walk between stops in the dark for much of the year.
“The savings the council would make through these proposals do not justify the increased risk to vulnerable children, especially when they are about to receive a 31 percent increase in their funding from central government.”
Responding to this on Tuesday, Mr Langford said the extra money from the government “is all gone” and has been “eaten up” by all of the service pressures within the authority in recent years.
Fifteen faith schools are currently benefiting from the transport scheme, 10 of which are in Nottinghamshire, two are in Nottingham, two are in neighbouring Derbyshire, and one is in Doncaster.
If no changes are made to the service, the authority says the cost over the next six years will be between £7.25 million and £7.5 million.
The school bus services that would be impacted by any changes:
- Christ the King School, Arnold – 910
- Good Shepherd Primary Catholic Academy, Woodthorpe – 652
- Burntstump Seely, Arnold – 710
Services to The Minster School in Southwell are not listed in the council’s proposals due to the school transport not wholly or mainly providing transport for pupils on the discretionary faith-based scheme, but the authority says faith pupils on the scheme could “expect a rise” in transport costs under the review.
Similar schemes in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire no longer exist.
This topic was looked into by the authority more than 20 years ago, where it was decided that parents would begin to contribute some money towards it to keep it running. It was also up for consideration back in 2018.
