A CONSULTATION on plans to withdraw free home-to-school transport from hundreds of children has been labelled an “almighty mess”.

Plans to save £340,000 by denying free services to parents who don’t choose their child’s nearest school faced criticism from across the political divide yesterday.

At County Hall, the Conservative-run administration faced criticism from its own ranks as even senior cabinet members questioned the process.

Around 40 parents and school leaders packed the meeting room for more than two hours as the item was discussed.

Campaigners accused the council of failing to notify schools, governors or parents, and not giving enough time to respond to the consultation.

Sue Moon, from the Oxon School Bus Action Group, said: “These proposals had come out so quietly, the main schools were only learning about them a week before the end of the consultation.

“Local people have done the council’s job for them using social networking and the local media. Shame on you.”

Representatives from the schools which will be the worst-affected, including the Warriner School and Burford, also expressed concerns.

At Burford, the school’s leadership has worked out that its annual intake would fall from 200 to 50 under the proposals, because only two of its nine feed-in primary schools would count Burford as their “nearest school”.

Opposition councillors said they did not object to the idea of charging for home-to-school transport, but said consultation on changes had to be more thorough.

Labour councillor Gill Sanders said: “This whole consultation seems to have been an almighty mess on behalf of both the council and the national Government.”

High-ranking Conservative councillors were among those who were most critical of the consultation.

Deddington councillor and cabinet member for finance Arash Fatemian, who is governor at The Warriner School, in Bloxham, added: “I don’t think the full implications of the proposals have been thought through.”

The only support for the policy came from Carterton Community College’s leadership, who claim the current policy, which means many children who live near their school instead travel to Witney and Burford every day, harms their intake.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth said the council would continue to look at the issue.

TIMELINE

  • JUNE 5: Consultation begins on plans to withdraw free transport from parents who don’t choose their child’s nearest school, or live within a three-mile “statutory walking distance” from September 2014. Costs could top £500 per year.
  • June 18: Burford School head Kathy Haig warns some schools could lose pupils, staff or close.
  •  June 20: The council says pupils who do not get their first-choice school will not have to pay.
  • July 2: Cabinet member for schools Melinda Tilley admits the policy needs a “rethink”.
  • July 3: The council extends the deadline for consultation to July 15.
  • July 4: The council’s own education scrutiny committee calls on the council to go back to the drawing board with its plans.
  • July 8: More than 200 parents and school leaders pack Kennington Village Centre to quiz council officers on the issue. A petition against the plans gains hundreds of signatures by morning.
  • July 9: The Oxon School Bus Action Group calls for Mrs Tilley to resign over the issue.
  • July 11: The Dept of Education scraps new guidelines on changes to home-to-school transport, which means the council has to obey old procedures including a statutory 28-working-day consultation period during term time. s
  • July 15: The council announces it will shelve the plans after realising that its consultation would not fit the original criteria set by Government.