Funding change for faith school transport in Telford

Telford & Wrekin Council consulted on a new home-to-school policy late last year, and one of the changes proposed is that “eligibility for travel to faith schools will only be provided to those families on low income”.

Councillor Ian Fletcher asked whether this could be considered discriminatory.

Education and skills director Heather Loveridge said parents who sent their children to faith schools, grammar schools and non-catchment schools, where students are also ineligible, had “expressed a preference” and “taken on responsibility”.

Councils are not required to provide transport to them, she told the children and young people scrutiny committee, and Telford & Wrekin had decided not to “on the grounds of equality”.

In September, the borough’s Labour cabinet agreed to start a consultation to refresh council policies on home-to-school transport, post-16 travel assistance and adult social care travel assistance.

A report for that meeting said: “These proposals have been designed to provide greater choice, independence and control for residents of the borough, improving their outcomes.”

The 2019-20 budget for home-to-school transport was £3.1 million.

The new policy, the report said, would “provide greater choice, independence and control for residents of the borough”.

Planned improvements included the “spare seat offer”, enabling parents of ineligible children to purchase unoccupied places on council-funded vehicles, if available, and the introduction of “independent travel training” for all ages.

Criteria

One of the changes to be discussed in the consultation, it added, was that “eligibility for travel to faith schools will only be provided to those families on low income, where the school is over the statutory walking distances”.

The policy, attached to the report, said travel assistance will be subject to eligibility criteria and usually only available “where your child attends the qualifying school”, as defined by the council.

It adds: “The following types of school are classified as ‘parental preference’ and, therefore, funded travel assistance is not provided: grammar schools; faith schools; a school that is not the nearest or qualifying school.”

Exceptions to the faith school rule can be made for children who live with a parent receiving the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit or who are entitled to free school meals.

Conservative Councillor Fletcher said: “The old policy applied the optional allowance to allow assistance to those parents who opt for their children to go to a faith school.

“This has been taken away, specifically, in the new policy.”

He asked whether the new policy could be considered discriminatory, under the 2010 Equality Act, which aims to protect characteristics including “religion or religious belief” from discrimination by bodies including education providers, transport services and local authorities.

Ms Loveridge said the previous policy was “giving an advantage to one set of parents who wanted to send their children to a school of a particular nature”.

She added: “It is a preference parents are entitled to, but, in expressing that preference, the responsibility to transport their children to the school moves to them.”