Reform school transport proposal would take children ‘back to Victorian era’, says Phillipson

Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Phillipson

George Finch

George Finch

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has reacted angrily to the leader of Warwickshire Council’s request for “local flexibility” in the running of home to school transport. Reform UK’s George Finch, who in July became the UK’s youngest council leader aged 19, has written to Phillipson asking for more powers for councils to set their own rules over statutory walking distances in a bid to make savings.

In a statement to the BBC, Phillipson accused Finch of wanting to take children “back to the Victorian era”.

“A Reform-run council is seriously proposing to make children in a deprived area walk five miles to school so [the council] can balance their books,” said Phillipson.

“If you want an example of the danger that Reform would pose to our children if they ever got into government, look no further.”

In his letter to the Education Secretary, Finch explained that Warwickshire County Council transports over 10,000 pupils, with the council’s budget for this service rising from £17. 9m in 2018/19 to over £50m this financial year.

“Despite the various steps we are proactively taking to seek to improve efficiencies and minimise costs for the delivery of these services, we anticipate that these costs will rise to around £80m over the next five years,” wrote Finch. “Such cost increases inevitably put pressure on the council’s budget, with potential impacts on the wider delivery of services undertaken by the authority.”

Warwickshire Council is currently reviewing its home to school transport policy so that it aligns with the Department for Education’s Guidance published in 2023, “and to ensure that our focus is solely on those with statutory entitlement to transport”.

Finch said the current statutory walking distance from school stated in the guidance – three miles for those aged eight or over, two miles for those aged under eight - has a “significant impact on the provision that the council must provide”.

The rural nature of county councils must be recognised within the context of this guidance, wrote Finch. He requested that local authorities are given the power to change statutory eligible walking distance “where it makes sense to do so in a local area”.

The statutory walking distances have not changed in recent years to accommodate structural and infrastructure changes in the country, “especially in counties such as Warwickshire where there has been a significant increase of housing”.

Analysis by Warwickshire Council’s officers suggest that increasing the statutory distance by one mile could reduce the number eligible for home to school transport by 8%, and if it was increased by two miles the reduction would be by about 16%, according to Finch.

Phillipson said: “It’s typical of Reform’s approach: make big promises about finding waste and then discover you can’t deliver without hitting working families with cuts to services or tax rises.

“It’s happening over and over again in Reform-led councils and it’s what they’d do for the country too.”