FAQs

Specific impacts on individual school bus services arising from any policy changes - such as re-routing, timetable changes or cuts - have not yet been assessed. This process will follow on from the end of the consultation. 

We will use the principles for each option, set out in the consultation brochure, to identify if any services need changing to meet the requirements of a new policy. If any specific service changes are required, we will engage via our existing processes with parents, carers and schools that could be affected to ensure that an appropriate outcome is found for pupils. 

The statutory duty on local authorities to provide free home to school travel support for children will continue regardless of any changes to the Combined Authority’s policy.  

Furthermore, the Combined Authority’s travel to school strategy is interested in how every child gets to school, and our existing guidelines(External link) for the provision of school bus services apply to any secondary school aged child regardless of their statutory eligibility status.  

Under options where we propose changes to our existing guidelines, if services levels were reduced to facilitate statutory travel only (option two), non-eligible children may be allowed to pay for travel on a school bus where capacity allows. Under our proposed new sustainable travel policy (option four), we would consider provision of a school bus to support travel to your nearest suitable school where a child or young person cannot walk, wheel, cycle or use public transport to get there. Other children and young people may be able to pay to use these services, where capacity allows. 

We will ensure that there are capacity assessments on conventional bus network services that could be affected by any changes in future to make sure that there is enough space for all passengers who want to board. 

Our existing guidelines are available to read online(External link). In summary, a service to a secondary school may be provided or continued where children are in Years 7 to 11, are attending a school within West Yorkshire, live within a four-mile radius of the school, the public transport network is considered unsuitable, and the school is not within a reasonable walking distance of their home address. This is determined by reference to the following criteria 

Rolling out in phases from March 2027 to October 2028, franchising will bring buses under local control and give the Combined Authority the ability to set routes, fares and frequencies for majority of buses that run in West Yorkshire. 

Although we are initially focussed on protecting the existing network, over time, franchising will allow us to review the bus network to ensure it is serving the region’s communities effectively. This may include optimising routes and timetables to ensure the network provides good access to schools and other educational facilities. 

In our franchising scheme, we identified a number of school bus services that we intend to run. If we have listed a school in the franchising scheme list, we will provide a service that runs past the school. We can also tender additional services if needed, or we can make alterations to current school bus services to ensure they work effectively in future. 

This consultation will run until Wednesday 11 June 2025. We will then analyse all feedback received and use this to report on findings and our recommendations to the meeting of the Combined Authority on Thursday 31 July 2025. This will support the Combined Authority to agree a new policy.  

Any changes to school bus travel will be implemented over time and we would engage and consult, as necessary later in the year on any proposed service-specific changes arising from any policy changes. School services and budgets have already been agreed for the 2025/26 school years. Any changes to our policy would therefore be implemented from September 2026 (the 2026/27 school year) at the earliest. 

Our travel to school strategy will consider how we can support children and young people of all ages to travel to school and other places of education. 

However, at this time we are reviewing only our policy for when and where the Combined  Authority provides dedicated school buses for secondary school aged (11–16 years old) children and young people only. Transport for primary school children, children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and young people in post-16 further education are not part of this consultation. 

It is an exciting time for public transport in West Yorkshire. From the mayor’s pledge to take buses back under public control through franchising, to the hundreds of millions of pounds we are investing in transport improvements to create an integrated network across bus, rail, walking, cycle and a new mass transit system.  

With our recent Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, we have enhanced services with improved operating hours or frequencies, and protected large parts of the network from service reductions due to the ongoing affects the of the Covid-19 pandemic, including changed travel patterns and increased operational costs.  The first round of franchised services launched in early 2027 and the transition will be complete by the end of 2028.

We want children and young people to be able to safely and independently travel to school by walking, wheeling, cycling or using public transport. Although we cannot guarantee safety in all circumstances, we are committed to working to try ensure this, as far as possible. For example, we are committed to the ongoing delivery of a range of free road safety training and education through the West Yorkshire Vision Zero Partnership, to ensure our young people have the skills to keep themselves safe when traveling independently in their neighbourhoods, to and from school. 

More broadly, we’re working to make bus travel safer across West Yorkshire, including through our Bus Safety Feedback Tool and Enhanced Safer Travel partnership with the local police, which has deployed Police Community Support Officers across services and bus stations. 

We will also coordinate with our Local Authority partners to provide improvements to road safety wherever possible so that your child can safely walk, wheel and cycle to school. 

We want children and young people to be able to travel to school by walking, wheeling, cycling or using public transport. This should be convenient, safe and affordable, no matter where they are in West Yorkshire. That’s why we are developing a new travel to school strategy. This will support our plans to deliver a sustainable, integrated transport network across the region – including franchised buses and a new mass transit system - which connects people to opportunity and helps them to build happy and healthy lives. 

More broadly, our wider vision for school travel and integrated transport is being supported by other revenue and capital funding investment, including: 

Our policy proposals will not directly impact school admission policies. 

School admission policies are very different to that of the past when Local Authorities managed nearly all schools in the region - for example, academies are able to set their admissions criteria as they see fit within the limitations of the Department for Education’s guidance.(External link)  

We will work with Academies and Local Authority partners to deliver the best outcomes we can for pupils within our school travel policy. 

We want to promote educational choice and ensure everyone had good access to suitable, educational opportunities.  

In line with Department for Education guidance, under any policy changes, faith schools will be treated the same as any other schools.  

With regards to statutory provision, DfE guidance states that although local authorities must have regard to the wish of a parent to have their child educated at a school based on their religion and ‘should not have not have a blanket policy that they never provide travel assistance to schools with a designated religious character’, this does not mean local authorities must arrange travel ‘unless the child would be eligible for free travel to that school’.  

Therefore, by not directly considering religion or belief, or having a blanket-rule based on this, we are supporting access to education and equal outcomes regardless of this characteristic, with journeys to faith schools only facilitated with a dedicated school bus if it is a child's nearest, suitable school. Under options where existing guidelines are maintained, any legacy services to faith schools would be considered equally under the guidelines and subject to the same value for money assessment as part of managing the allocated budget. 

If you live in West Yorkshire but your child travels outside the region for school, we still want to hear about your experiences and thoughts about our strategy. Your input will help shape how this is developed going forwards. 

However, under our existing guidelines, the Combined Authority does not provide school buses across regional boundaries unless fully funded by the school or parents. We do however recognise some children and young people use public transport to travel into and out of West Yorkshire and, on behalf of our local authority partners, we provide free travel passes for a small number of eligible pupils who travel cross boundary. This would continue under all proposed options. 

If you live outside of West Yorkshire but your child travels into the region for school, we still want to hear about your experiences and thoughts about our strategy. Your input will help shape how this is developed going forwards. 

However, under our existing guidelines, the Combined Authority does not provide school buses across regional boundaries unless fully funded by the school or parents. We do however recognise some children and young people use public transport to travel into and out of West Yorkshire and, on behalf of our local authority partners, we provide free travel passes for a small number of eligible pupils who travel cross boundary. This would continue under all proposed options.

Our travel to school vision is for every child and young person, no matter how they currently travel to school. As such, anyone can answer our survey. Regardless of whether you currently walk, wheel, cycle, use public transport or rely on a private car, we want to know about your experiences, potential future behaviours and if there is anything we can do to improve things going forwards. 

With regards to whether your child or school could be provided with a dedicated school bus in the future, this would depend on the policy option chosen and your personal circumstance, for example whether you are travelling to your nearest school or are unable to travel there safely via walking, wheeling, cycling or public transport.

We are continually working to improve the transport network and ensure it is suited to the needs of our communities. 

As the Local Transport Authority, this has historically focussed on providing ‘socially necessary’ bus services to enable access to places of education, employment and other essential places like hospitals, where there is no existing commercial provision.  

As we transition to franchising, we will have the ability to set routes, fares and timetables for most bus services. Although we are initially focussed on protecting the existing network, over time, franchising will allow us to review the bus network to ensure it is serving West Yorkshire communities effectively. This may include optimising routes and timetables to ensure the network provides good access to schools and other educational facilities. 

Existing and future provision of school buses will be shaped by the cohort of children and young people in education at that time and will change as pupils enter and leave the education system. However, we want to establish a consistent policy for the provision of dedicated buses to secondary schools that can be used through to at least the rollout of franchising and the completion of the first contracts. Parents and carers when will be one of our key stakeholders when we do make any changes to the network.