Home-to-school transport for thousands of children is at risk through inflated diesel costs that are imposing an additional bill on the coach industry in England alone of £3 million per month for that work, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has warned.
Over 600,000 children are taken to and from school by coach each day in the UK. But CPT says that operators may be forced to cut services of all kinds – including home-to-school, sports trips, holidays and scheduled routes – because of unsustainable costs.
38% of coach operators have told CPT that they are likely to hand back home-to-school transport contracts due to rising outgoings that are not being matched by rates paid.
In May, a £100 million support package for the bus industry in England was announced. That includes fuel costs mitigation as well as free travel for children under the age of 16 on participating services in August. But CPT observes that the funding applies only to the bus sector, and not coach.
Devolved governments in Scotland and Wales are considering similar emergency support for bus operators, the Confederation adds. The trade body has been working with local authorities to understand their funding pressures.
Additionally, CPT wrote to the Department for Education in week commencing 1 June to set out the extent of the risk posed to home-to-school transport and is seeking what it terms “urgent financial support” for those services.
CEO Graham Vidler describes the current position as exceptional. He says that coach operators “should not simply be left to sink or swim on their own” and that ministers must act now “to ensure that thousands of children continue to have the vital coach services they need to get them to school from September.”
Anecdotal feedback from a selection of local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales suggests that few, if any, have offered any direct financial support to operator contractors.
CPT notes how the typical cost of diesel for coach operators has risen by 30% since the war in Iran commenced. The additional burden is particularly high on rural routes, where higher mileages are covered, it adds.
Among coach operators cited by the Confederation to illustrate the impact of high fuel costs on home-to-school transport are MacPhails Coaches of Salsburgh in North Lanarkshire, and Chalkwell of Sittingbourne in Kent.
MacPhails director Martin MacPhail says that much of its business is built around a price of up to 120ppl for diesel. Since the start of the Iran conflict, the firm has paid up to 160ppl.
“When it comes to home-to-school transport, most of us are stumbling on, bearing the onerous fuel price surge until the end of the school year,” adds Mr MacPhail. “But we will be having a look at that in the summer. We cannot continue at a loss. You have to make a decision on what is viable.”
Chalkwell has 35 vehicles occupied on home-to-school work, primarily for Kent County Council. Managing Director Roland Eglinton says the business is “considering our costs and looking to see which contracts are financially viable.”
He adds: “In terms of school transport, there is a natural break when the summer holidays arrive. Most operators will be considering what work they do going forward.”
