Fresh Calls To Abandon North Yorkshire Home-To-School Transport Policy Amid Errors

North Yorkshire Council is facing renewed pressure to scrap its new school transport policy after admitting to inconsistencies in how walking distances are measured.

Families are facing thousands of pounds in transport costs after it emerged the local authority failed to follow its own rules for assessing school travel eligibility.

Free travel to a pupil's closest school is determined by measuring the distance from their home to the nearest school gate. However, North Yorkshire Council officials have confirmed that coordinates inside school grounds were used when assessing whether schools in neighbouring authorities are actually nearer.

Walking routes across private land without a public right of way have also been included in distance calculations. This contradicts the council's own policy, which requires measurements to follow the nearest available walked route.

The updated transport system was introduced last year in an attempt to reduce an annual school travel bill of more than £50 million. It replaced the previous catchment-based eligibility criteria with a nearest suitable school model.

Critics argue the new information, which came to light during recent appeals hearings, shows the Conservative-controlled authority has forced a policy onto parents that it did not apply to itself.

Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Lacey, leader of the opposition, said the council had publicly confirmed it had been using a different methodology from the one described in its official policy. He said:

"This is no longer simply a question about mapping or technology. It is a question of governance.

"If the council has been applying the policy differently from the way councillors approved and parents were told, then we need to understand how that happened.

"Who authorised it? When? On what advice? And why were councillors and parents not told? Those are questions the council now has a duty to answer."

The School Transport Action Group has written to senior officers and councillors calling for an immediate return to a catchment-based system. A spokesperson for the campaign group said:

"This whole thing is now a total farce. Every week there's a fresh scandal – another error or inconsistency that knocks away what little confidence people still have in this policy.

"The council has judged parents by the rules while admitting it wasn't following its own. For two years, parents have been told measurements were accurate to within one thousandth of a mile.

"Decisions that have cost families money and changed the course of their children's education have been made on the back of that assurance."

Howard Emmett, the council's assistant director of resources, defended the process and stated the authority did not believe any child was disadvantaged. He said:

"When we calculate home-to-school travel distances for schools in North Yorkshire, we can use data within our system regarding known entrance points for schools.

"However, the system records more limited information about the entrance points to schools outside of the county. In the interests of accuracy, we therefore calculate distances using the co-ordinates linked to the 'unique property reference number' assigned to the particular school."

Addressing the inclusion of private land in distance calculations, Mr Emmett said:

"Regarding walking routes, the data that is provided by the Ordnance Survey and the system does not distinguish between roads and paths that are publicly or privately owned, or which are unavailable for use.

"However, where we are made aware of specific issues, this is taken into consideration when eligibility for transport is determined. It's important to note that many private roads and footpaths are available for use as 'permissive routes', and in those cases, they would be considered as part of a home-to-school walking route."

Mr Emmett added that the method of measuring distance to assess eligibility was historic and had been in place for many years. He said:

"It was not changed as part of the updated policy in 2024."

Around twenty complaints have been submitted to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman regarding the policy. Five of these complaints have already resulted in findings of fault and injustice to the families involved.

A post-implementation review of the home-to-school transport policy is currently being worked on by the council and is expected to be published next month.