Parents Urged To Have Their Say On School Transport Changes

Families across the Yorkshire Coast are being asked for their views on proposed updates to North Yorkshire's home-to-school travel policy.

School transport rules could see further updates as a consultation opens on how children travel to classes across the county.

Parents, carers, and schools in places like Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, and Pickering are being invited to share their experiences following a major overhaul of the system in September 2024. The previous changes meant free travel was only provided to a child’s nearest school, aiming to make the £52 million-a-year service financially sustainable.

Now, a post-implementation review has generated 24 recommendations, with seven key proposals currently open for public feedback until Wednesday, November 4.

Proposed changes include allowing greater discretion for the routes used to calculate the distance to a child’s nearest school, and removing routes from the mapping system if they are deemed unreasonable for a pupil or vehicle to use. The consultation will also ask whether discretionary measures should be considered where two schools share the same drop-off point for council-run transport.

The review assessed how the current policy is working through an analysis of appeals, complaints, data, and feedback from parents, carers, schools, and other stakeholders.

Data from the review highlights the specific impact of the 2024 policy on the Yorkshire Coast. In the Scarborough and Whitby area, the proportion of pupils eligible for free travel assistance dropped from 9.0 per cent in the 2023/24 academic year to 6.2 per cent in 2026/27.

The changes have also influenced how families use paid travel permits, which allow non-eligible students to use spare seats on contracted services. At Whitby School, the number of Year 7 pupils purchasing a paid travel permit jumped from just one in June 2025 to 12 by May 2026. Filey School and Scalby School also recorded slight increases in the uptake of these permits for their Year 7 cohorts.

However, the trend differed for older students. Scarborough Sixth Form College saw a significant reduction in post-16 paid permits, falling from 84 in June 2025 to 63 in May 2026.

Primary schools have also seen shifts in travel patterns. At Pickering Community Infant School, the average distance travelled by eligible Reception pupils reduced from 4.54 miles in 2024/25 to 3.39 miles in 2026/27. The school also saw a slight increase in the number of Reception pupils utilising paid travel permits.

The consultation will also focus on five routes in particularly remote areas of North Yorkshire which the review recommended are removed from the mapping system as they can be affected by severe weather or impractical driving conditions. Other routes that are identified through the consultation will also be considered for removal if they are assessed as unsuitable.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, said:

"When the policy changed, we promised to review how it was working in practice and to listen to the experiences of families.

"That is exactly what we have done, and this consultation is giving people the chance to give their views of some of the key recommendations.

"We would encourage people to take part as this is your opportunity to have your say and help us to shape the future of our home to school travel policy in North Yorkshire."

The review’s remaining 17 recommendations were discussed by the council’s executive last week, with 10 approved by councillors.

The other seven were noted by elected members as they related to measures already in place in the current policy, such as continuing to base eligibility for home to school travel on a child’s nearest suitable school with available places instead of using a catchment school.

Any approved policy changes will not take effect before September 2027 and will apply to children starting in Reception and Year 7 in September 2028.

Parents and carers applying this academic year for a school place for their child to start in Reception or Year 7 in September 2027 are reminded that until any decisions are made, the current policy remains in place. Families should continue to make school preference decisions based on the existing policy.

Alternative formats will also be offered on request and paper copies will be available at the council’s libraries for anyone who is unable to access the consultation online.