Sarah Edwards
Main Page: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)Department Debates - View all Sarah Edwards's debates with the HM Treasury
Road Safety Strategy
Sarah Edwards Excerpts(2 days, 23 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sarah Edwards (Tamworth) (Lab)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and happy new year.
Although I welcome the road safety strategy, it sadly ignores school minibus safety, despite my raising this issue with the Department last year. I have been campaigning with my constituents Liz and Steve Fitzgerald since 2023, following the tragic loss of their daughter Claire in a minibus accident. Private schools follow strict O licence rules, yet state schools can use weak section 19 permits. Will the Minister remedy this failing in the law through mandatory national safety standards for all school minibuses?
Lilian Greenwood
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. The Minister for Roads and Buses, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), was listening carefully and will be happy to write to my hon. Friend or meet her to discuss it further.