Transporting pupils to denominational schools – the consultation

We asked you about planned changes to the way pupils are transported to denominational schools.

This page was created in early 2007 to provide background information to that consultation, which closed on 30 March 2007.

Results of the consultation

Find out what happened after Cabinet considered the issue:

The original position

We considered changing how provide free transport was provided to denominational schools. These are church schools where buildings are owned by the relevant church.

Under pre-consultation arrangements, children going to these schools are provided with free transport where the distance is over three miles and the child or parent is of that faith.

Why was a change considered?

We had to consider whether the current arrangements were fair and applied equally to everyone. Most parents who choose not to send their child to a local school have to pay the transport costs. It can be argued that it is unfair that parents whose children go to denominational schools receive help with their transport while children at other schools do not.

The council is committed to low council tax increases because that is what local people have told us they want. But the increase in money we get from the Government doesn’t cover our inflation costs.

This means we have to make some difficult decisions about what services we continue to provide.

We have to spend significantly more than we had planned this year on school transport. This is because transport costs are increasing by between 10 and 15% – well above the rate of inflation. If we cannot save money on school transport we will have to make savings elsewhere.

Some councils have recently reviewed and changed their arrangements

Why were changes being considered at this time?

The Government is changing the law on school transport, so that we would have to provide help where children go to denominational secondary schools which are between two and 15 miles away and whose families receive free school meals or Working Tax Credit.

What is the cost of transport to denominational schools?

At the time of this consultation we spend £585,000 on transporting 1,334 pupils to denominational schools. This is about 7% of the total spending on school transport. Out of 183 primary and secondary schools in the county, transport help is provided to only 10 denominational schools. We also transport pupils to nine denominational schools outside East Sussex. By making changes, this cost would be reduced over seven years.

The diocesan authorities which represent Church of England and Catholic schools said the following:

Are there really any savings to be made?

    • Many children will still receive transport help for other reasons.
    • If children don’t go to their church schools they will still need places and local schools may be full.
    • The churches pay for the buildings and save the council money.

Is it really fair to remove this support?

    • Church schools are a popular choice for many families.
    • Historically these schools were placed to serve large catchment areas.
    • If parents use cars instead, congestion increases and damages the environment.