Post-16 school transport charges to rise by £110 a year in North Yorkshire

Home-to-school transport charges for post-16 students in North Yorkshire are to increase by £110 a year.

Councillors have voted to increase this fee from £490 to £600, which they say will bring it in line with the majority of county councils.

Officials say the current cost per year to the council per student is from £900 for a place on a bus, to £30,000 for specialist provision with passenger assistance.

Up to £2.8 million is spent on post-16 transport provision, with the council currently receiving about one sixth of that (£0.5m) in contribution fees.

“We haven’t taken this decision lightly and have held the travel fee for post-16 students for a number of years to help relieve cost pressures on families, but faced with competing demands on our overall budget, we have had to make some difficult decisions on spending,” said County Councillor Patrick Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s executive member for education and skills.

“Council funding for post-16 transport is discretionary, but North Yorkshire has always subsidised the cost as an important service to families. Many live in rural locations and travel to the nearest school or college for post-16 provision can be over longer distances than in many other councils.

“We will continue to heavily subsidise post-16 transport and low income families will continue to receive a 50 per cent discount.”