Statement on the DfE Return to Schools Policy

Stephen Edwards image

More funding support will be needed as part of collaborative approach to getting pupils safely to school.

Stephen Edwards, Chair of the Urban Transport Group, said:

“A significant number of trips to and from school are made by bus. Capacity on our networks is already highly constrained due to social distancing which will make it extremely challenging for transport authorities to ensure that every pupil can safely get to school when they return in September.

“These challenges are made worse by the lack of funding certainty for bus services when the current additional COVID-19 support expires at the start of August.

“To ensure schools can safely return in September we need a collaborative process between Dft, DfE and transport authorities in order to ensure that there is a joined up plan that gets children back to school and is backed up by the funding necessary to support the extra public transport capacity that will be needed.”

A briefing on the transport challenges of the return to schools can be found here.