Parents Face Big Bill

Annual school bus passes in Kent will go up to £580 a year, prompting more parents to consider driving their children to classes.

The increase represents a 30 % rise over the past three years.

Karen Settle, 40, of Wateringbury, will have two daughters at Hillview School for Girls in Tonbridge in September.

With Abigail joining year seven and Eleanor moving into year ten, Mrs Settle’s annual bus pass costs will rise to £1,160. “That’s a large amount of money for any family,” she said.

Karen Settle added: “I want the girls to get the bus – it’s part of growing up and building independence. Now I am looking at £100 a month for them to get to school".

She warned that any further increase means she will have to drive her daughters to school in future.

The full rate jumps by 5.45% from £ 550 to £ 580, while very low income families see a hike of more than 12% from £ 120 a year to £ 135.

Kent County Council provides the Kent Travel Saver (KTS) bus pass for secondary pupils in years 7-11.

The council says the cost would be much higher were it not for government funding from the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

Conservative Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee member Cllr Harry Rayner said: “This is as good as we had a right to expect – KTS offers excellent value for money.”

He estimated that the full cost of a KTS pass on some routes could range from £1,200 to £1,600 without the council subsidy.

But Green Party committee colleague Cllr Mark Hood (below) had reservations. He said: “What worries me is that when (BSIP) doesn’t happen…the cost is going to be astronomical.”

Cllr Hood said he could not support a price hike which would hit poorest families or those who are “just managing”. “It’s going to be hard for them,” he added. 

Papers before the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on February 25 stated: “Based on the planned cost increase, it means that over a three-year period, although the cost of the full price KTS has risen from £450 to £580, using BSIP funding has ensured that a significant discount is still provided to users of the KTS, when compared with single tickets and when compared to the overall cost to KCC.

“At £580 full cost, a user making full use of the ticket 190 academic school days, travelling twice a day, is paying £1.53 per trip/£3.05 per return.

“This is on an assumed base level of use, however the KTS can be used at any time between 6am-7pm on bus services across Kent and during school holidays, except for the summer school holidays, therefore for some users, the discount will be even greater.

“Even with the national fare cap, currently in place, for some students not using a KTS a return would cost £6 per day, compared to £3.05 if a KTS is used.”

For Karen Settle of Wateringbury, her husband Keith, 47, is the main breadwinner while Mrs Settle works part time in customer services as well as running an online beauty business, Oriflame by Settle4Wellness.

“The government wants to get kids back into the classrooms but I’ll have to pay a lot more to get them there.

“In an ideal world, bus travel for schoolchildren should be free and that would be amazing – but that’s never going to happen.

“I won’t up my hours in the day job but I will be doing more with my online business. It will definitely have an impact on my family.”

The council cabinet committee voted five to one (with one abstention) in favour of rises.

Phil Lightowler, Kent County Council head of public transport, told members: “I understand the pressures on families about getting to school and the cost of travel.

“I know there are plenty of people who don’t think the pass delivers value for money. This scheme has made travel affordable.”

He and colleagues across the country are telling the government that if funding for public transport does not improve, “we have a major, major problem”.

Cllr Hood added: “Part of Kent’s problem is the selective system where people have wider choice of schools, meaning people will travel long distances to get to a non-selective school. In other counties, children go to the nearest school to where they live. That is why we have to support the KTS scheme.”