COUNCIL transport chiefs have suspended the ‘no pass, no travel’ rule on school transport after a surge in late applications for bus passes for students.
It means students will be able to use public transport to get to school without a pass after the County Council received more than 4,200 applications since the start of summer.
Some parents have not yet received their child’s free bus pass for school because of the surge in applications.
If parents are aware that their child is entitled to free school transport and they have not received a pass in time for the first day of school, their child can still travel without a physical pass.
They just need to keep any tickets used on a service and eligible parents will be entitled to a full refund from the County Council.
Coun Tracey Onslow, cabinet member for Education, said: “Our priority is to ensure eligible children can access and use school transport.
“I’m sorry for any concern caused but I’d like to reassure all parents entitled to a free bus pass, that their child can still travel on school transport without a physical bus pass and they will be entitled to a full refund for any fares paid.”
Coun Mike Rouse, cabinet member for Highways and Transport, added: “Our Education Travel Team has been working extremely hard to get all of the applications processed over the summer. However, we’ve seen 292 applications come in just last week alone.
“Whilst we process these we are suspending the ‘no pass, no travel’ rule for the first few weeks of term and will issue refunds for tickets purchased during this time.”
In line with the County Council’s usual practice, confirmation of all offers of vacant seats will not be made until after October half-term as the County Council needs to allocate seats to those children who are eligible first.
Parents of non-eligible children wishing to take advantage of any discretionary places will be placed on a waiting list and parents are advised to make their own suitable travel arrangements for the start of the new academic year.
Once availability of vacant seats is confirmed, the Transport Team will contact parents.
