A meeting to discuss controversial home-to-school transport changes was halted this week amid claims from angry parents and councillors of a “cover-up” by council bosses.
Members of North Yorkshire Council’s Richmond area committee voted to defer a discussion on the policy after hearing how information had not been released about the potential impact of the changes on schools and communities.
Campaigners have referred the council to the Information Commissioner’s Office because it has not yet responded to their Freedom of Information (FOI) request to see a study on the impact of the policy on schools, while Stokesley councillor, Bryn Griffiths, has also asked for information on the social impact of the new rules.
The meeting had been called after campaigners handed in a petition containing more than 2,000 signatures which asked for a return to a ‘catchment system’ for free school transport, rather than only paying for transport to a child’s nearest school.
Before the vote to defer the meeting, several parents and school governors spoke about how the policy would affect their communities.
Brenda Price, chair of the governors at Reeth and Gunnerside schools, said the 13 pupils in their current year six would be split between five different schools — Richmond, Wensleydale, Risedale, Teesdale and Kirkby Stephen.
She said: “The community that we nurtured for the previous seven years would be shattered.
“Many of these children live in isolated locations so school, and their transport to and from school, is their social hub.”
Mrs Price said parents were being given a “Hobson’s choice”.
“Although there is free choice, practically only one thing is being offered — to apply to a school they know their child can be transported to safely.”
Dales parent Linda Rudkin said the changes cost mean Richmond School losing 140 pupils, meaning ten teachers could go, because of the loss of funding.
After asking councillors if they knew what the impact was of the policy in the areas, she said: “What school impact data do you have that you are no releasing following our requests to the Freedom of Information team? What are you trying to hide?”
Another parent, Carol Livingstone, said the policy was going to cause ripple effects across the county for years to come — without any financial benefit to the council.
Urging councillors to change the rules back to a catchment system this year, she added: “If you think that thousands of parents like us are going to sit quietly for two years whilst you experiment to see if there are any savings, causing disruption to our families and ruining schools then I’m sorry but you are sorely mistaken.”
After hearing from the public speakers, Richmond councillor, Stuart Parsons, proposed a deferment, saying councillors could not fully debate the issue without having all the information.
He said: “Why has the council not sent the information because it clearly smells of a cover-up and yet another smoke screen?
“If they’re happy with what they’ve been trying to tell us, they should have had no difficulty supplying the information requested and no difficulty responding to the Freedom of Information request, and yet they can’t.”
The proposal for deferment was backed by councillors, with several Conservative members of the Tory-run authority agreeing with councillors from other parties that the meeting at County Hall in Northallerton should be stopped.
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