Easy Read brochure- School travel consultation (html/plain text)

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Changes to school buses in West Yorkshire

Please read about our ideas and tell us what you think

Supporting children and young people to get to and from school

Hello, I am Tracy Brabin. I am the Mayor of West Yorkshire.

My job is to make West Yorkshire a great place for the people who live and work here.

We are looking at how we support children and young people to get to and from school.

We know getting to school on time is really important.

We want it to be easy, safe and cheap for everyone, no matter where they live.

We are looking at school buses for children and young people who are at secondary school.

This means children and young people aged 11 to 16 years old.

We want to change how we run school buses.

We have some ideas about changes we want to make.

How things work now

In West Yorkshire, we run 329 school buses to help children get to school.

Most children have to pay to get the school bus.

Some children can travel for free. Free means you don’t have to pay.

To travel for free, children need to meet some rules. These are rules around things like:

  • How far they live from their school

and

  • If they already get free school meals.

You can read more about our rules on this website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

Local councils also run other buses for some children. This might be:

  • Children who are at primary school. This is children aged 5 to 11

and

  • Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This is called SEND for short. Children with SEND might need extra support to learn or move about.

Any changes we may make will only affect buses for secondary schools. They will not affect these other buses.

Why we need to make changes:

  • There are more school buses in some of our areas than others.

This means it may be harder for some children to get to school.

  • General buses and trains don’t always go to where people want to go.

They might not go near to the schools.

  • We want more children and young people to travel to school by themselves.

This might be by walking, cycling wheeling or by general buses.

Wheeling means things like using a scooter or a wheelchair.

Helping children travel to school is important but it costs a lot of money.

The cost of running buses has gone up.

We are finding it hard to run our services with the money we have.

The changes will help us make sure we can afford the money we spend. It will make sure school buses are fair for everyone.

What we want to do

We have 4 ideas about changes we could make to our policy.

We need to choose the best idea.

We are asking lots of people what they think.

We really want to hear from:

• Children and young people.

• Parents and carers.

• Teachers.

We will listen to what everyone tells us. It will help us to decide which changes to make.

We will think carefully before we make any changes.

We will make sure that families who need help can still get their children to school.

Any changes we make will start from September 2026.

Idea 1: Keep things the same as they are now

We will run the same school buses that we have now in the same way.

But the cost of running the buses is going up.

We will not be able to afford to run all of the same school buses in the future.

We will have to stop running some of the buses.

Good things about idea 1:

• The cost of getting the school bus will stay the same.

Not so good things about idea 1:

• There will be less school buses in the future.

• Some schools have more school buses than others.

Idea 2: Only run school buses for some children

We will only run school buses for children who travel to school for free.

Nobody else will be able to get on the bus.

Good things about idea 2:

• This idea will save us a lot of money.

We can use this money to make transport better for everyone in our area.

Transport is things like buses and trains.

Not so good things about idea 2:

• Lots of children would have to find a new way to travel to school. This means that:

• Some people will have to pay more money to travel to school.

• More people might have to drive their children to school.

• Some children and young people might not be able to get to school anymore.

Idea 3: Keep things the same as they are now but find more money to pay for it

The extra money will come from:

• Charging children more money to get the school bus.

and

• Asking schools to pay some money for school buses.

Good things about idea 3:

• We will run the same school buses that we do now.

Not so good things about idea 3:

• The cost of getting the school bus could go up for some children.

• Some schools might not be able to afford to pay towards school buses.

Idea 4: Change how we do things

We will:

• Support more children and young people to walk, cycle or wheel to school.

• Make sure there is good general transport for children and young people who need it.

We will make sure general buses run at the right times to get children to school on time.

• Run some buses for children and young people who cannot use general transport to get to their nearest school.

Children and young people who need help to travel will still travel for free.

Other children and young people will still have to pay to get the bus.

In this idea, getting the school bus will cost the same as getting a general bus.

This means the cost could go down a bit for some young people.

We may also stop running school buses in some places. This might be places where:

• Children and young people can easily get to school by themselves

or

• There are good buses and trains. Good things about idea 4:

• More people will walk, wheel or cycle to school.

• School buses will cost the same as general buses.

• This idea links in with other plans we are writing about transport and buses in our area.

Not so good things about idea 4:

• There will be less school buses.

What happens next

We will decide what changes to make in July 2025.

Any changes to our policy will start from September 2026.

This will give people time to get used to the changes.

Tell us what you think

We want to know what you think about our ideas.

We have some questions for you.

You can answer the questions in our survey online on our website:

www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/school-travel

The online survey is not in easy read.

You might need to ask someone to help you to read it.

If you need help filling in the survey, you can contact us:

By email:

schooltravelconsultation@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

By phone: 0113 245 7676

We need everyone’s answers back by Wednesday 11th June 2025.

This Easy Read was written by Easy Read UK.

Changes to school buses in West Yorkshire

Please read about our ideas and tell us what you think

Supporting children and young people to get to and from school

Hello, I am Tracy Brabin. I am the Mayor of West Yorkshire.

My job is to make West Yorkshire a great place for the people who live and work here.

We are looking at how we support children and young people to get to and from school.

We know getting to school on time is really important.

We want it to be easy, safe and cheap for everyone, no matter where they live.

We are looking at school buses for children and young people who are at secondary school.

This means children and young people aged 11 to 16 years old.

We want to change how we run school buses.

We have some ideas about changes we want to make.

How things work now

In West Yorkshire, we run 329 school buses to help children get to school.

Most children have to pay to get the school bus.

Some children can travel for free. Free means you don’t have to pay.

To travel for free, children need to meet some rules. These are rules around things like:

  • How far they live from their school

and

  • If they already get free school meals.

You can read more about our rules on this website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance

Local councils also run other buses for some children. This might be:

  • Children who are at primary school. This is children aged 5 to 11

and

  • Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This is called SEND for short. Children with SEND might need extra support to learn or move about.

Any changes we may make will only affect buses for secondary schools. They will not affect these other buses.

Why we need to make changes:

  • There are more school buses in some of our areas than others.

This means it may be harder for some children to get to school.

  • General buses and trains don’t always go to where people want to go.

They might not go near to the schools.

  • We want more children and young people to travel to school by themselves.

This might be by walking, cycling wheeling or by general buses.

Wheeling means things like using a scooter or a wheelchair.

Helping children travel to school is important but it costs a lot of money.

The cost of running buses has gone up.

We are finding it hard to run our services with the money we have.

The changes will help us make sure we can afford the money we spend. It will make sure school buses are fair for everyone.

What we want to do

We have 4 ideas about changes we could make to our policy.

We need to choose the best idea.

We are asking lots of people what they think.

We really want to hear from:

• Children and young people.

• Parents and carers.

• Teachers.

We will listen to what everyone tells us. It will help us to decide which changes to make.

We will think carefully before we make any changes.

We will make sure that families who need help can still get their children to school.

Any changes we make will start from September 2026.

Idea 1: Keep things the same as they are now

We will run the same school buses that we have now in the same way.

But the cost of running the buses is going up.

We will not be able to afford to run all of the same school buses in the future.

We will have to stop running some of the buses.

Good things about idea 1:

• The cost of getting the school bus will stay the same.

Not so good things about idea 1:

• There will be less school buses in the future.

• Some schools have more school buses than others.

Idea 2: Only run school buses for some children

We will only run school buses for children who travel to school for free.

Nobody else will be able to get on the bus.

Good things about idea 2:

• This idea will save us a lot of money.

We can use this money to make transport better for everyone in our area.

Transport is things like buses and trains.

Not so good things about idea 2:

• Lots of children would have to find a new way to travel to school. This means that:

• Some people will have to pay more money to travel to school.

• More people might have to drive their children to school.

• Some children and young people might not be able to get to school anymore.

Idea 3: Keep things the same as they are now but find more money to pay for it

The extra money will come from:

• Charging children more money to get the school bus.

and

• Asking schools to pay some money for school buses.

Good things about idea 3:

• We will run the same school buses that we do now.

Not so good things about idea 3:

• The cost of getting the school bus could go up for some children.

• Some schools might not be able to afford to pay towards school buses.

Idea 4: Change how we do things

We will:

• Support more children and young people to walk, cycle or wheel to school.

• Make sure there is good general transport for children and young people who need it.

We will make sure general buses run at the right times to get children to school on time.

• Run some buses for children and young people who cannot use general transport to get to their nearest school.

Children and young people who need help to travel will still travel for free.

Other children and young people will still have to pay to get the bus.

In this idea, getting the school bus will cost the same as getting a general bus.

This means the cost could go down a bit for some young people.

We may also stop running school buses in some places. This might be places where:

• Children and young people can easily get to school by themselves

or

• There are good buses and trains. Good things about idea 4:

• More people will walk, wheel or cycle to school.

• School buses will cost the same as general buses.

• This idea links in with other plans we are writing about transport and buses in our area.

Not so good things about idea 4:

• There will be less school buses.

What happens next

We will decide what changes to make in July 2025.

Any changes to our policy will start from September 2026.

This will give people time to get used to the changes.

Tell us what you think

We want to know what you think about our ideas.

We have some questions for you.

You can answer the questions in our survey online on our website:

www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/school-travel

The online survey is not in easy read.

You might need to ask someone to help you to read it.

If you need help filling in the survey, you can contact us:

By email:

schooltravelconsultation@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

By phone: 0113 245 7676

We need everyone’s answers back by Wednesday 11th June 2025.

This Easy Read was written by Easy Read UK.