Council proposes scrapping school buses and increasing fares in shocker for parents

Blackburn with Darwen Council is to scrap some of its dedicated buses to four of the borough’s biggest secondary schools and increase fares for pupils on those that remain.

The move, which follows a cost-saving review, will prepare the way for ending the use of cash and paper vouchers on the services.

The cost of tickets for borough schoolchildren attending secondary schools in Bolton will also rise.

The fare increases are the first for dedicated school services for 10 years.

The changes are set out in a report by the authority’s education boss, Cllr Julie Gunn, to be debated by its ruling executive board on Thursday.

In April, the council launched a statutory consultation on the financing of the dedicated buses it subsidises to St Wilfrid’s Secondary Academy, St Bede’s Roman Catholic High School, Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Academy, and Darwen Aldridge Community Academy.

This is because neither it nor the destination schools could afford to make up the difference between the costs and fare revenue.

The results of that consultation are in Cllr Gunn’s report but those pupils entitled to free transport to school will be unaffected.

The proposals are:

to increase the bus fares on dedicated school buses to £1.95 for a single fare and £3.90 for a return fare for those services procured on behalf of St Bede’s RC High School, St Wilfrid’s CE Academy, Our Lady and St John RC High School and Darwen Aldridge Community Academy from Monday September 1;

to increase the bus fares on dedicated school buses travelling to Bolton Schools to £2.45 for a single fare and £4.90 for a return fare from Monday, September 1;

vouchers will be available to purchase until the end of summer term 2026 at which point an alternative electronic pre-payment system will be available;

the value of the vouchers will increase in line with the proposed increase to bus fares commencing from Monday ,September 1;

vouchers with a face value of £1.25 or £1.75 will only be accepted until October 18;

paying cash on dedicated school buses will be phased out commencing September 2025 moving to a fully cashless systems by September 2026;

specific proposals for St Bede’s RC High School will merge the buses number 83 and 84 into one bus service, change the bus number 89 to follow a new route, and remove the number 81 dedicated bus service due to public transport being available;

specific proposal for St Wilfrid’s CE Academy will remove the number 823 dedicated bus service due to public transport being available;

specific proposals for Our Lady and St John RC High School will remove the number 70 and 977 dedicated bus services due to public transport being available;

specific proposals for Darwen Aldridge Community Academy will change the bus number 822 to follow a new route and remove the 822 service by the end of summer 2030 at the latest.

Cllr Gunn’s report says that the council aims to transfer the procurement and contract management of remaining school bus services to the respective schools they serve.

It says: “Historically Blackburn with Darwen Council agreed to enter contractual arrangements on behalf of four of the borough’s secondary schools to procure dedicated school buses.

“Some seats on these buses are purchased by the local authority for pupils who have a statutory entitlement to free home to school transport, but most of the pupils currently travelling on these buses are not eligible for free home to school transport.

“The shortfall between the contract cost and the revenue income was met by the destination school in each case.

“Following a procurement exercise in 2023, the costs of the contracts for these buses increased significantly, and schools found that they could not sustain the financial cost of continuing to make up the shortfall between the contract costs and revenue income.

“To support schools, the local authority agreed to make substantial contributions towards these contract costs for the period from April 2023 to March 2025.

“However, this is not a position that can continue into future financial years.

“Bus fares on dedicated school buses have not increased for over 10 years in Blackburn with Darwen and the current fares are significantly less than fares charged for school buses in neighbouring authorities.”