Kirklees Council consults on faith schools bus pass cut
A public consultation has been launched on plans by a West Yorkshire council to end subsidised travel to students attending faith schools.
Kirklees Council said the cut would save the authority £111,000 per year. It said it was not required by law to provide bus passes for pupils at faith schools A petition has been launched supported by local Catholic schools calling on the authority to "abandon any plans" to remove the travel subsidy. According to a council report on the proposal, 456 students would be affected by any cut. Labour councillor Graham Turner, cabinet member for resources, said that in a recent budget consultation 69% of people responding felt that changing the policy "was a good or OK idea". "We fully understand that this is a difficult time for the parents of those children that may be affected by any decision we take, and this is why we are entering in to a full consultation," said Mr Turner. "We also recognise that this could impact on how parents choose which school to send their children to in the future, which is why we wish to start the consultation as soon as possible." The public consultation will last eight weeks.