Bus cuts are nowt to do with me!
SCOTLAND'S minister for education has said his hands tied over cutbacks to school buses.
East Dunbartonshire Council is being forced to slash 8million from its budget this year.
The cuts have been made more severe due to the ongoing council tax freeze imposed by the Scottish Government.
The council's savings include the controversial decision to stop free bus transport for pupils living more than a mile from school – a service they are not required to provide under current law.
Under the plans, from August 2010, only primary pupils living more than two miles and secondary pupils living more than three miles from their school will be eligible for the service.
A change in the law could force the council to continue providing the current bus service, but Education Secretary Michael Russell said the current economic climate made such a move impossible.
He said: "It's a difficult situation. Resources are tight and councils have to make these decisions – often hard decisions.
"We have the statutory regulations and no child should be asked to undertake an unsafe journey. It would be perfectly legitimate to increase statutory provision for school transport but then what do we decrease provision for?
"We have to ask the simple question of how much it would cost and whether it is reasonable for our children to walk or cycle to school – many would argue that it is desirable."
He added: "Not everything people would like, or want, to happen will happen in the coming years, particularly at the end of a period where many councils have been expanding such services as school transport provision."
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Weather for Kirkintilloch
Thursday 24 May 2012
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