PROPOSALS for Powys A-level students to be charged for school transport should be reconsidered, the county council has been told.

The council launched a consultation into potential changes to its school and college transport policy, including the possibility of introducing a charge for post-16 students using transport to get to schools or colleges.

But that proposal has met with opposition, with 86 per cent of people who responded to the consultation insisting that no charge should be brought in.

Members of the council’s Learning, Skills and Economy scrutiny committee heard that council officers would now recommend to Cabinet members that more work should be done on the introduction of a possible charge.

That recommendation was due to be considered by the Cabinet during a meeting on 18 September.

Making the recommendation that more work is carried out into the proposal for a charge for post-16 transport, the report says: “The introduction of charging for transport for 16 to 19-year-olds is clearly a contentious issue, it is recommended that further detailed work is carried out into post-16 transport provision as part of the authority’s improvement work around the post-16 sector, with the aim of providing all learners with opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge, and to have access to a broad curriculum.

“As the council is currently operating in a very critical and challenging financial climate, there may be a financial benefit to introducing charges for transport for 16 to 19-year-olds to school or college.

“It is a non-statutory service and therefore merits further investigation.

“This work will include further cost analysis and impact assessments and another report will be brought back to Cabinet in the spring term of 2019.

“If this work results in new recommendations that impact upon the Home-to-School/College Transport Policy, further consultation will be carried out prior to any final decisions being made.”

Other concerns raised during the consultation include whether the policy matches the council’s aims in terms of Welsh-medium education and if there is sufficient recognition of the differences between a Welsh-medium school and a dual-stream school.

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