The latest planned increase in the cost of a school travel permit will mean North Yorkshire families have faced a 73 per cent rise in six years.
North Yorkshire Council is planning to increase the cost of permits from £818 in 2025/26 to £846 for the 2026/27 financial year.
The change will affect about 1,300 pupils, including approximately 650 post-16 students who use home-to-school transport.
About 625 pupils whose families pay for a travel permit on council-run buses will also be charged more.
The cost of paid permits in 2020/21 was £490, while post-16 transport passes cost £600, with the prices aligned in 2023/24.
The increase is set to be approved by senior councillors this week.
Jon Holden, head of school organisation and transport, said in a report ahead of Tuesday’s meeting that the cost to the council of providing school transport had risen sharply in recent years.
He said:
“The council’s expenditure in respect of home to school travel has increased significantly during recent financial years and it is estimated that the expenditure during the financial year 2025-26 will have amounted to £52.52m.
“Revenue arising from the sale of paid travel permits is utilised as a contribution towards the costs incurred by the council in the provision of home to school travel and, in accordance with the fees and charges policy it is recommended that the contribution rate is increased by 3.4 per cent to £846.”
Among those affected by the increase are families who pay for a school bus pass after being denied free school transport due to a change in council policy.
The controversial new rules mean the council will only pay for transport to a child’s catchment school if it is also their nearest.
One of the criticisms of the policy is that families in rural areas have to pay for a bus pass because the route to their nearest school is unsuitable or unsafe for a school bus.
Commenting on the increase, a spokesperson for the School Transport Action Group (STAG), which was formed to fight the rule change, said:
“Now that North Yorkshire has lumbered us with a school transport policy that isn’t fit for purpose, paid-for bus passes are no longer a backup plan – they’re a lifeline for an increasing number of families.
“£846 is a lot to find in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
“Add to that the threat that vehicles can be cancelled or downsized and passes revoked with just one week’s notice, and it all adds up to a council that yet again is putting pounds and pence ahead of pupils’ needs.”
The council is proposing that a 50 per cent discount continues to be provided to pupils from low-income families.
The expense of transporting children with special educational needs (Send) to suitable schools has been identified as a major factor in the increase in overall home-to-school transport costs.
The County Councils Network, which represents rural authorities including North Yorkshire Council, has estimated councils transported a record high 206,000 children and young people up to age 25 with Send to school last year at a cost of £2bn.
In North Yorkshire, there are a number of children who each cost more than £1m-a-year for their Send provision, including home-to-school transport.
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