Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Travel to School: Rural Communities

Monday 1 November 2021 · 3 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Local authorities must provide transport for children of compulsory school age to attend their nearest school if they cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or special needs.
  • The Department for Education provided Somerset with over 1.1 million of additional funding last year.
  • The Minister stated that funding levels are considerably higher than they were in 2010.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Warburton Con
Education Transport
Context

Concerns about rural children's access to school due to limited public transport.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children in rural communities with limited public transport are able to attend school.

Answer from Robin Walker

Local authorities must provide transport for children of compulsory school age to attend their nearest school if they cannot walk there because of distance, route safety or special needs. During the next spending review period, authorities will receive an extra £1.6 billion a year to maintain vital services such as that.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 David Warburton Con
Education Transport
Context

Concerns about rural children's access to school due to limited public transport and school bus places.

Question

I am grateful for my hon. Friend's reply. As a former teacher, I very much understand the value of education, but in the past few months I have been concerned to hear of constituents having difficulties getting children to school because of limited public transport and school bus places. I know that my hon. Friend will agree that it is vital to ensure that children do not miss out on learning, so I would be grateful to hear what steps are being taken to ensure that children in rural areas, particularly with limited bus transport, are able to attend school, and whether he has discussed this matter with colleagues in the Department for Transport.

Answer from Robin Walker

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As he says, as a former teacher, he recognises the benefit of children being in schools. I can assure him that the Department regularly talks to the Department for Transport about school transport. Last year, we gave Somerset over £1.1 million of additional funding for school and college transport in response to the need for social distancing on public transport. I shall continue those conversations.

Answered
Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q3 Daniel Zeichner Lab Cambridge
Education
Context

Concerns about rural children's access to school and the level of government ambition for funding.

Question

Of course, far too many children in rural areas end up getting driven to school, but does the Minister agree that when they finally arrive at their destination, they will be slightly surprised to find that this Government's ambition for funding is just back at the level that they inherited from the last Labour Government in 2010?

Answer from Robin Walker

I think the hon. Gentleman will find that funding levels are considerably higher than they were in 2010. We were also delighted to deliver real growth in funding over that period, which many of us have long campaigned for.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Minister did not provide specific statistics or figures comparing current funding levels to those inherited from the previous Labour Government.

How: Delighted To Deliver Real Growth In Funding Over That Period

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)