Faith schools face cuts to transport service
BBCPupils at 12 schools across Nottinghamshire could be impacted by council cuts to faith schools transport.
Nottinghamshire County Council has said it is reviewing its discretionary bus service for Catholic and Church of England schools due to financial pressures.
The scheme means that some families can get their children to faith schools on transport subsidised by the council.
The Reform UK-led council has carried out a consultation on four options, one of which is to cancel some of the existing bus routes entirely from either 2027 or 2031.
Another option would see parents paying significantly more for bus passes and another is to keep the scheme as it is.
The council said about 520 pupils travel on their buses to faith schools either with a discounted bus pass as part of the scheme or on an ad hoc basis.
The scheme sees parents pay £420 per year for primary school pupils and £515 per year for secondary school pupils.
James McGeachie, CEO of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust, said seven of its schools would be impacted.
"We're really concerned because parents being able to choose a Catholic education for their children is a fundamental right.
"I think a lot of families would be so disadvantaged by this.
"Many travel a long way to get to our schools and if they were forced to use public transport that would require two buses and walking between stops which isn't safe.
"Another concern is that parents would have to consider moving their child," he said.
The authority said if no changes were made to the scheme, the cost over the next six years would be up to £7.5m.
A total of 14 schools will be impacted by any cuts with two outside the county, one in Ilkeston and another in Doncaster.
Nottinghamshire provided free discretionary faith school transport until 2007, after which it said a "heavily discounted faith travel bus pass" was introduced.
Nearby counties of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire withdrew their discretionary schemes more than15 years ago.
Bernadette Rothwell's 14-year-old daughter uses the school bus to get to The Becket School in West Bridgford from their home in Draycott, Derbyshire.
She is not on the discretionary transport scheme as she lives out of the county, but said if the bus service was cut, her daughter will not be able to get to school.
The 47-year-old said: "My daughter has ADHD so it's not just a convenience to get that bus, it is a necessity to get her here safely.
"Two of the options are to remove it entirely, and that would be catastrophic to us and many other families."
Councillor Bert Bingham, cabinet member for transport and environment, said in a statement: "We are facing significant financial pressures across all services, and we are undertaking this review of the discretionary faith-based school travel as part of our efforts to address these financial pressures and deliver a balanced budget."
School bus services that could be affected are:
- St Edmund Campion, West Bridgford - 448
- Christ the King School, Arnold - 910
- The McAuley Catholic High School, Doncaster – 668, 669
- St John Houghton, Ilkeston – 415, 416
- The Trinity Catholic School, Aspley – 218, 650
- English Martyrs School, Long Eaton - 517
- The Becket School, West Bridgford – 441, 442, 447, 448, 449, 681
- All Saints Catholic Academy, Mansfield – 213, 214, 215, 217, 219, 221, 224
- Good Shepherd Primary Catholic Academy, Woodthorpe - 652
- St Philip Neri, Mansfield – 215, 219, 224
- The Emmanuel School, West Bridgford - 681
- Bluecoat Academy, Aspley – 218, 652
- National CofE Academy, Hucknall – 413, 414, 415/417
- Burntstump Seely, Arnold - 710
The council said services to The Minster School in Southwell were not listed as the routes were "not wholly or mainly providing transport for pupils on the discretionary faith-based transport scheme" but the review could mean pupils may not continue to get a discount for faith places.
The authority said the review would not impact pupils where the council is required to provide transport.
A final decision is expected by August 2026.
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