Upchurch Parish Council has addressed residents concerns regarding changes to the KCC school bus service and have received a prompt reply to the issues raised from Mr Steve Pay at KCC. Please read his Email below:
Dear Mr Pay,
Residents have contacted the Parish Council about the school bus service from Upchurch to Westlands School. The school bus B which had taken pupils to the school has been cancelled and they have been told to use the 327 service. The school was unaware of the cancellation of the service.
Parents have reported that there are insufficient spaces on the bus and last night some young people were asked to leave the bus- only three school years were in school yesterday. School finishes at 3pm and on Wednesdays the bus leaves at 3.05pm, this is clearly insufficient time for pupils to get to the bus stop after their lessons.
Some pupils have been refused bus passes even though they live in Upchurch.
The Parish Council is extremely concerned that there has been no proper consultation regarding the changes to the school bus service. The changes are causing a great deal of anxiety to parents and young people.
· Please can you tell me how you will resolve the problems and ensure there is sufficient capacity for young people from Upchurch to get to Westlands School?
· It is unrealistic to expect pupils to get to the bus stop five minutes after the end of school; what action will you take to facilitate pupils being able to catch a bus on Wednesday afternoons?
· Why have bus passes been taken away from pupils living in Swale who have an ME8 postcode?
· Please can you advise me of your safe guarding policy in relation to school children.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Wendy Licence - Clerk to Upchurch Parish Council
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mrs License,
Thank you for your email. There are a few strands to it and I will endeavour to answer each in turn below.
The previous service B referred to is provided by the Council specifically for the conveyance of children with an entitlement to free transport to school. The service has not so much been cancelled but rather the contract for it reached its natural expiry at the end of the previous school year and therefore had to be retendered in line with procurement principles. The successful submission to replace the B service was provided by Chalkwell who proposed to allow children travel on their 326/7 service alongside other children who travel using a Young Person’s Travel Pass or by paying a fare.
The submission provided by Chalkwell includes provision for them to provide extra vehicles on the service i.e. they will be providing a sufficient number of vehicles for all of the children travelling whether they be entitled to free transport to school or not. Capacity should not be an issue and Chalkwell are very aware that in the event that extra buses are needed then they will have to provide them to ensure that there is a means for all intending passengers to get to school.
I am very sorry to read that this was not the case on Wednesday. I am aware that there was an issue affecting bus services in the area on Wednesday owing to the fact that some schools fixed return dates in advance of the standard KCC academic year pattern which saw schools return from this Monday. As such not all services that would normally be operating did as this early return was not communicated or understood which is something that all parties – schools, operators and KCC need to coordinate better from future years. I am therefore trusting that this problem was isolated.
In respect of consultation, this is not something that we would normally undertake where this relates to the expiry of a contract and a procurement process by which we are bound. That is not to suggest that we do not communicate and in this instance the parents of all children allocated to the service were contacted directly by this office to advise of the change. The new transport solution proposed is broadly similar to that which was there previously and I am confident that it will work satisfactorily for all students and other bus passengers. As we do in respect of any service change, we shall be having our local bus inspector observe the service over the first few weeks of term in order that we can be assured of this and resolve and initial problems that might be experienced. I will have the times of the afternoon service looked at the ensure that they are suitable for all children. However, my understanding is that these have remained the same on this service as last year when they were used by pupils attending these schools.
I am concerned about the suggestion that some passes have been taken away as there should be no reason for this. If we are referring to the fact that some pupils in Upchurch are entitled to free transport to school and some are not then this would relate to the statutory requirement set by the Department for Education and which is reflected in the policy of the Council. This states that children attending their nearest secondary school and travelling over three miles would be entitled to free transport to school and, whilst determining eligibility is not a function of this office, it seems that from Upchurch children are entitled to free transport to Westlands School but not to Borden Grammar which is further away. Children electing to travel to Borden can do so on this service using a subsidised Young Person’s Travel Pass. No passes should have been removed but ff there are instances when this has happened then please let me know and I will investigate this.
Finally, the welfare and safeguarding of children is uppermost in all Council activities and transport is no different. There is no one policy that seeks to govern this entire area but there are many laws, regulations, conditions of contract, guidance to operators, established protocol etc governing the provision of this transport that is designed with safety in mind. If there is a particular concern that you have then I shall be happy to respond to it.
I trust that I have responded to all points but please contact me again in the event that you have further questions or concerns.
Kind regards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tyrone Ripley
Chairman - Upchurch Parish Council
space
