Coach and bus industry members have been asked to further help a campaign to prevent schools and colleges from use Section 19 permits for minibus operation by writing to their MP to introduce the call for change and seek the backing of those elected representatives.
Efforts continue to be led by Steve and Liz Fitzgerald. Their daughter was among 12 children and a teacher who were victims of the M40 minibus accident in 1993.
They have long sought change to mandate that transporting schoolchildren and students in minibuses must fall under the O-Licensing regime. A petition calling for that reform is live, and the latest step involves a template letter that can be downloaded by operators and other parties via the routeone website, customised, and forwarded to MPs.
The campaign is supported by Belt Up School Kids (BUSK) and its Director Pat Harris, and education union NASUWT. In March 2024, NASUWT and other unions in that sector published joint guidance strongly advising their members not to drive school or college minibuses.
The guidance asserts how “the Section 19 [permits] regime is not fit for purpose for schools and colleges” and that those establishments wishing to run minibuses should be obliged to do so via an O-Licence. A spokesperson for NASUWT confirmed on 7 April that its position remains unchanged.
In March, NASUWT said it remains “deeply concerned” that the fundamental cause of the 1993 accident – a teacher driving the minibus when they should not have been – is unresolved.
General Secretary Dr Patrick Roach believes that expecting teachers to work a full day in the classroom and then drive a minibus “is completely unacceptable and must not be allowed to continue.”
He adds that some MPs have already given support to the campaign led by Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald, including their own elected representative Sarah Edwards. Dr Roach now wants further action, including by ministers, to enact legislative change.
Ms Edwards has urged those who have not already signed the petition to do so, noting how the change in government during 2024 means that “we have a new chance to make school minibuses safer.”
In July 2024, she tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) on school minibus safety calling for all schools with minibuses to operate those vehicles under an O-Licence. On 13 May, Ms Edwards will hold a parliamentary drop-in event at Portcullis House to which all MPs are invited with an aim of encouraging them to sign both the EDM and the petition.
Since founding BUSK in 1993, Ms Harris has been vocal in her call for reform. She is calling on members of the coach and bus industry to send the letter to their MP.
“If I had £1 for every operator that over the past 30 years or so has asked me to do something about the issue of teachers driving minibuses not just compromising safety standards but taking business away from properly licensed passenger transport companies, then I would be rich,” she explains.
“By working together – that is, unions, BUSK, the Fitzgeralds and the industry – and doing this collectively for the first time, do we not stand a better chance of bringing about the changes we all want? I appeal to all passenger transport operators: Please use the template letter and send it to your MP. Let’s make a stand together.”
