Parents 'disgust' as councillors in North Lanarkshire vote down free school buses motion

Parents fighting to reverse a decision to reduce the number of children eligible for free transport to school say they are “disgusted” after councillors voted against using surplus funds to maintain current mileage limits for the coming year.

In a bid to save £3.6million, North Lanarkshire Council has agreed to change qualifying mileage limits for free school transport from one mile to two miles for primary school pupils, and two to three miles for secondary school pupils.

Concerned parents have been fighting to have the local authority reverse the decision and a motion brought by SNP councillors on Thursday would have postponed the change for the coming school year.

It sought to use £2.088million from an £8million surplus in council finances, as a one off resource, to continue providing free school transport for high school pupils for the next school year.

However, councillors voted 40-35 in favour of a Labour amendment which instead noted a letter sent from council leader Jim Logue to the Scottish Government, which calls for a review of statutory guidance on the mileage provision and assessment of safe walking routes, as well as emergency funding.

Campaigners who protested outside the Civic Centre in Motherwell as the meeting went on, were left fuming, with councillors who failed to vote for the motion.

Thousands of children across North Lanarkshire will be affected, among them over 400 at schools in Wishaw and Motherwell.

Mums, Marissa Cloughley from Bargeddie and Kerry Anne Ferrie from Motherwell have been at the forefront of the campaign.

Kerry Anne, whose six-year-old son Sean attends Cathedral Primary – 1.6 miles walking distance from his home, says she is “disgusted and extremely disappointed” with the result of the vote.

She added: “The fight for the parents of primary school children is just beginning as they’ve delayed assessing the routes, the process was due to start in February.

“Communication has been non-existent to primary parents so far. Many will not even be aware that their children are set to lose their bus. This is not acceptable.

“We have labour councillors acknowledging the routes are unsafe but still continued to block the motion yesterday to pause this change. It is shameful to acknowledge there are child safety issues and block a resolution that would address these and provide the time to meaningfully engage with parents, and more importantly children. The only councillors in the chamber that seemed pleased with that result were Labour and Conservatives.

“Not one Labour councillor mentioned safety during the meeting but we have clear evidence that safety isn’t being met. I was astonished when Cllr Jim Logue complained about waiting two weeks for a response from the Scottish Government when parents have waited weeks and months, and had to put in FOI requests for information that should be accessible online, and there are councillors who are not responding to their constituents.

“There’s pure frustration that we’re being ignored.”

Marissa is campaign organiser of NLC Transport Action Group. Her children Lucy 13, and Harry, 11, won’t now receive free transport to take them to St Ambrose High in Coatbridge.

She said: “Despite the SNP putting forward a really good motion and presenting it really well, it looks as if they’d already made their minds up.

“We’d sent councillors a letter from parents which was read out by Cllr Lesley Mitchell but it didn’t make any difference because they weren’t listening, and weren’t interested.

“Our eyes are wide open to some of the councillors after this.

“People are really angry and there’s such a strength of feeling about this. There’s about 150 kids from Bargeddie affected.

“The two possible walking routes for my children are along the A89 Coatbridge Road or Monklands Canal, they [assessments] state they’re safe and acceptable. We eventually got copies of those assessments through FOI, and realised they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. Monklands Canal isn’t even mentioned, despite the fact it’s unlit, it’s open water, and totally secluded.

"And on the main road there’s bumps and crashes every other week with cars speeding. It doesn’t mention speed or volume of traffic and the speed cameras been put out of action. We paid for an independent seven-day traffic assessment and the assessor said he was pretty shocked with the speed and volume of traffic.

“There’s no alternative public transport the children can use to get to St Ambrose or Coatbridge High. The only bus is a 30-seater that only runs a third of the way. We have a car, but what do other kids do?”

Marissa added: “We will regroup and think about what our next steps are, we’re looking into school strikes and further protests. We’re not going away. There’s too much strength of feeling, and people are angry.”

A North Lanarkshire Council spokesperson said: “An amendment was agreed by the council at its meeting.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is providing record funding of over £14 billion to local authorities in 2024-25. That provides £600.6 million of additional revenue funding for day to day services, including the provision of free home to school transport for eligible children.

“In 2024-25, North Lanarkshire Council will receive a 5.7% increase in funding from the Scottish Government compared to the 2023-24 budget. Any reductions to the school transport entitlement are for the council to answer for.”

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