Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Further Education: Public Transport and Covid-19

Monday 12 October 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Secretary of State for Transport has been working closely with officials to ensure young people can travel to their educational institutions during the pandemic.
  • The Government has allocated 44 million to fund additional dedicated transport to schools and colleges.
  • The Treasury has provided an extra 2 billion to help people walk to school and make it safe for them to get to school.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Navendu Mishra Lab Stockport
Education Transport
Context

During the COVID-19 outbreak, there are concerns about young people's access to public transport for further education.

Question

What discussions have you had with the Secretary of State for Transport on ensuring young people can travel and continue their education during the coronavirus pandemic?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

We have been working closely with the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure that young people can travel and continue to travel to their place of education during the coronavirus pandemic. We have made £44 million available to fund additional dedicated transport to schools and colleges, and we will announce additional funding shortly.

Answered
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Q2 Navendu Mishra Lab Stockport
Housing Transport Local Government
Context

Concerns that local authorities lack funds to operate low-cost travel schemes such as the System One scheme in Greater Manchester, impacting young people's access.

Question

Does the Minister accept that the Government have a responsibility to ensure that local authorities have the funds available to operate low-cost travel schemes like the System One scheme? Is it unacceptable for the Treasury to devolve cuts affecting young people?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

Of course we have taken very seriously the issue of ensuring that children can get to school and colleges; there has been not only an extra £2 billion in funding to help people to walk to school and to make it safe for them to get to school, but £44 million for dedicated transport. So the Treasury is putting a lot of investment into this area.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Whether local authorities have sufficient funds to operate low-cost travel schemes like System One in Greater Manchester.

How: Working With Partners, Considering This

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