A local government led project set up to improve the school transport experience for children and to modernise councils’ approaches to providing school transport has delivered impressive results.
Today marks the end of a three year ‘National School Transport Project’ which commenced in April 2007. This project was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government although hosted and project managed by the WLGA.
Following a funding bidding process involving representatives from local government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the WLGA, twelve pilot projects were set up across Wales and the experiences and outcomes of those projects are being showcased today at a closing school transport event in Cardiff.
Speaking at the event, Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones said:
“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to join you today especially as this is a particularly important week for school transport.
“Improving travel to and from school is one of my key priorities – and tomorrow, I hope that Members of the National Assembly will approve the new Safety on Learner Transport Measure. This would allow the Government to require seatbelts on school transport buses, mandatory training for drivers and provision for CCTV, escorts, and risk assessments.
“I am extremely proud of how much we have already achieved in delivering these projects; and delivering our vision of children and young people in Wales travelling to and from school by safe, efficient and sustainable means.”
Cllr Peter Fox (Monmouthshire), WLGA Lifelong Learning and Skills spokesperson said:
“This initiative has given an excellent opportunity for innovative thinking from all around Wales and as a result exceptional pilot projects have come forward from local authorities. The Journey to and from school is an extremely important time in a child’s day and an area where parents quite rightly expect the very best for their children. The projects that have come forward over the last three years show what can be done to improve many areas of school transport delivery and as a result improve the child’s daily experience. I applaud these projects and recognise how their thinking can be used as examples of best practice across Wales.”
Bryan Jeffreys, Chair of the School Transport Project Board added:
“The knowledge gained as a result of these projects and the work that has been done by those local authorities involved has yielded impressive results. With the Welsh public sector facing austere cuts over the next few years, these 12 projects have generated usable outcomes which will be invaluable in the development and innovation of school transport services in the future across every local authority in Wales. Both individually and collectively they are excellent examples of local authorities sharing good practice and engaging specialist expertise to deliver leading edge solutions in a bid to improve services and to force out efficiencies in the system.”
In 2007, the Welsh Assembly Government provided a £3 million grant over three years to the WLGA for local authorities to develop innovative projects for school transport across Wales.
An overview of each of the 12 projects is shown below:
Gwynedd County Council: A project based at Dolgellau looking at the feasibility of operating a community transport based, school transport system. This project arose as a result of the lack of availability of school transport in the Dolgellau area.
Ceredigion County Council: This project explored the use of a park and ride system to overcome traffic congestion in the vicinity of three primary schools. There was a great deal of through traffic in the area and it was extremely congested during school opening and closing times.
Vale of Glamorgan & Monmouthshire: This project focussed on the development of a bus driver and pupil training program, including DVDs and manuals. The training has now been rolled out across the schools in the region. The training included a demonstration of bus evacuation.
SWWITCH*: This project worked on the development of the school transport systems and processes across the region. This included a pilot of CCTV on buses, the development of a driver training course, risk assessment documentation and joint reporting procedures for all four local authorities involved. All four authorities set out to integrate training, reporting and other school transport services into one system to cover the SWWITCH region.
North Wales Consortium**: This project examined the effects of CCTV versus passenger assistants / escorts on school buses. The effectiveness of these two systems was evaluated, with numbers of incidents measured and pupils and staff surveyed.
North Wales Consortium**: This project aimed to improve behaviour on school buses across North Wales. This included the development of a drama production, and the piloting of an electronic bus pass and tracking system for school buses. The drama production has been rolled out to schools across the region, and has received very positive feedback from both pupils and teachers.
Denbighshire County Council & STC Ltd: This project looked at all aspects of SEN transport and produced a guidance document on best practice in this field for local authorities. The results gained from this project are being disseminated throughout Wales through regional workshops.
Cardiff Council: This project focussed on developing an independent travel training program for SEN pupils within the local authority. 25 pupils have already been trained, with another 25 expected to have completed the training by the end of the initial pilot period. This training has resulted in far more freedom for both pupils and parents.
SWWITCH*: This project aimed to develop the SEN transport services throughout the region. Independent consultants have worked in conjunction with the four local authorities to integrate the SEN transport processes and procedures.
Cardiff Council: This project sought to better manage the demand for transport in the local authority. This project looked at all transport in the authority with a view to amalgamate all transport services into a sustainable service for all users.
SWWITCH*: This project aimed to create a sustainable 14 – 19 education transport system for the four local authorities in the region. A consultancy company was commissioned to oversee the collating of all known information and to examine ways of rationalising the systems throughout the region.
North Wales Consortium**: This project aimed to integrate school, SEN and public transport throughout the six local authorities. This project was developed as part of a larger transport project progressing earlier work done by the ELAN consultancy.
*SWWITCH – South West Wales integrated transport consortium.
**North Wales Consortium – Flintshire; Denbighshire; Wrexham; Conway; Gwynedd; Anglesey
