Threat to pupils’ free transport to grammar schools

Free transport to Lincolnshire’s 16 grammar schools is under threat.

There is no statutory requirement for the county council to provide or pay for transport to a grammar school, unless it is the nearest school over three miles to a pupil’s home.
Currently, 25 per cent of the county is not within an area benefiting from free grammar school transport, which is seen by some as unfair and discriminatory.

The council has also had to consider the cost – this year an average of £640 per pupil. Total cost is £2.48m, with more than £500,000 for transporting 847 pupils to Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School.

A task group, including Coun Chris Brewis (Sutton Elloe ward) and Coun William Webb (Holbeach Rural), has reviewed the policy, with stakeholders including headteachers and parents consulted.

Two recommended options for the council’s executive to consider on April 5 will be:

• charge pupils living in grammar school designated transport areas for transport to a grammar school where it is not the nearest suitable school (new pupils only, excluding pupils with siblings at the same grammar school, on a phased basis with some level of financial support for pupils in receipt of free school meals)
• leave the policy as it is, but review it in two years