Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support school bus services; and what steps she is taking with stakeholders to protect existing school bus routes from cutbacks.

​​The Department’s school transport policy aims to ensure that no pupil is unable to attend school because of a lack of transport. Local Authorities must arrange free travel to school for pupils aged 5 to 16 who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low income families, aimed at helping them exercise school choice.

​The majority of central Government funding for home to school transport is made available to Local Authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS), administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. The Department for Education provides grant funding to Local Authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights transport. This is £45.8 million in the 2023/24 financial year.

​The Department recognises that Local Authorities are delivering services in a challenging environment. The Department is working with other Government departments and with the sector to understand the challenges they are facing.