Labour cuts to school transport could cost families £900 per year (South Suffolk Liberal Democrats)

South Suffolk Liberal Democrats <southsuffolklibdems@googlemail.com>

Labour cuts to school transport could cost families £900 per year

February 5, 2005 3:10 PM

Labour's School Transport Bill could cost families almost £900. Research by the Liberal Democrats reveals that the average family will have to pay £893 to get their children to school if the Government succeeds in introducing charges for school buses. The Liberal Democrats are fighting against this clause that will allow authorities to charge children for attending school.

The Government is planning to remove free bus passes for children who travel more than 3 miles to school (2 miles for those under 8). Research by the Liberal Democrats shows that 600,000 school children could lose their right to free school transport.

Commenting, Kathy Pollard, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for South Suffolk, said:

"All children should have the right to a free education. The Government is putting thousands of children across Suffolk at risk of losing that right. By charging for school transport, Labour is introducing a stealth tax of up to £900 on working families."

Among other effects, this is very likely to increase the use of cars for the school-run, with the potential for more than 200 million extra car miles being added to the already congested school run. This would result in more than 7550 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions each year.

Liberal Democrats state that the Government's plans will add more cars to our already congested roads and will undermine our children's right to a free education.