School bus services in South Yorkshire under threat as mayoral reserves run low

The SYMCA provided £5.1m in reserves to fund the bus services in July 2022, after “a commercial decision by bus operators to remove a significant proportion of the commercial school bus network”.

The funding for around 377,000 of these “zero fare” trips would otherwise have fallen to local councils.

Budget reserves have been used protect services which were heavily used by children in mornings and afternoons – but a new report warns that existing reserves will be “exhausted” by the start of the 2024/25 academic year.

A report to the SYMCA’s overview and scrutiny board states that the funding will continue providing the service until July 2024, and that the authority will work with councils to “ensure that an appropriate transition away from a dependency on use of reserves for home to school transport is achieved”.

It adds that the issue has been “further compounded” by an increasing number of pupils not attending their nearest school, through parentalchoice or through intervention from the local authority to ensure capacity and demand is spread around their area.

This has led to “significantly more” pupils who are not eligible for free home to school transport but are still at a sufficient distance from their school to have otherwise qualified.

During yesterday’s SYMCA overview and scrutiny meeting, Sheffield councillor Colin Ross said that the system was “crucial” for getting pupils to and from school – especially at secondary school level.

John Dowie, executive director of infrastructure and place, said: “The challenge of school travel is the challenge facing the bus system as a whole in South Yorkshire.

“There has been a slow but progressive decline in bus patronage in South Yorkshire going back some considerable number of years.

“That process has led to quite financially challenged bus operators, all of that has been brought to a head by Covid.

“If government does withdraw all of its Covid support, then we have a very, very difficult challenge.”

“What then happens is partially dependent on what government does.

“Government is clearly trying to get out of its commitment to support bus services.”