Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what specific support is available for the school travel sector during the covid-19 outbreak.

Since September 2020, the Department has allocated more than £98 million to local transport authorities (LTA) to procure additional dedicated home to school and college transport, enabling children and young people to use alternatives to public transport while social distancing remains in place. LTAs have flexibility in how they use this funding to meet the needs of local families, including hiring extra coaches. The Department is reviewing funding arrangements for the summer term.

The main central government contribution to the costs of providing school transport (special educational needs and mainstream) is currently met from the Local Government Finance Settlement, administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.