PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Bus Services: Faith Schools and Private Education (21 July 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) extend the temporary exemption for fee paying school children on non-Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations compliant transport and (b) allow for more fare-paying passengers for children travelling to faith schools.

Asked by:
Dame Karen Bradley (Conservative)

This Government is committed to building an inclusive transport system which allows all passengers to travel on accessible modes of transport. We recognise however that the Covid19 pandemic has hit the coach industry hard and this has had an adverse impact on coach operator’s ability to invest in compliant vehicles.

We have therefore offered a further time-limited exemption for closed door home-to-school services until the end of the 2020/21 academic year. We anticipate that this will enable home to school services to continue to operate, enabling children to get to school, including private and faith schools.

Answered by:
Rachel Maclean (Conservative)
1 September 2020