Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to increase access to school bus services.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over. A child is also eligible if they live within the statutory walking distance but could not reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.

There are additional entitlements to free home to school transport for those children who are eligible for free school meals, or if a parent they live with receives the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. These are known as extended rights and are intended to support low income families in exercising school choice.

It is for local authorities to decide how they will provide free transport for eligible children depending on local circumstances. They might, for example, provide a pass for free travel on a service bus, or they might provide a dedicated school bus or a taxi to transport children.