Education Committee, 03 Sep 2003

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Official Report 183KB pdf

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School Transport Guidelines

Item 4 on our agenda is school transport guidelines, in which Fiona Hyslop is particularly interested. We agreed previously to find out more about the issue. I think that the clerk has more information for us.

I understand that the guidelines have been issued; however, that did not happen in time for them to be put on the agenda for this meeting. The minister's letter has been circulated to members.

I suggest that we have a proper discussion of the issue when we have the guidelines before us. We will put it on the agenda of one of our next meetings.

I agree with that suggestion, but I am somewhat concerned. The Executive has produced the guidelines only as a result of a petition that came to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee in the previous session. That committee discussed the issue and asked the Executive for guidelines more than a year ago. It is a gross discourtesy that the Executive did not ensure that we were given copies of the guidelines when they were published.

I would like the committee to consider the matter because it has been rumbling on for some time. I am pleased that the guidelines have been published but, without knowing their contents, we cannot discuss them. It is a bit off that although our predecessor committee initiated the change in the guidelines, the Executive did not have the courtesy to give us a copy when they were published.

In fairness, the guidelines were issued only three or four days ago, so that point is perhaps not altogether valid. I am also conscious of the sheer volume of guidelines and bits of information that the Executive has to deal with—I saw that during the passage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. I therefore have some sympathy with the Executive. However, we can discuss the issue at our next meeting or the one after, depending on our work load.

When we discuss the issue, whether next week or the week after, I would appreciate a brief accompanying note from the clerks that considers the philosophy underlying school transport. Reduction of congestion of our roads that is caused by parents' taking their kids to school is a fundamental issue. Public transport or school transport offers a safe alternative. Health considerations also arise: if children never walk to school it is not good for their health. Those are fundamental policy issues and I would like to know what has informed the Executive's thinking for the new guidelines. Would it be possible to have a brief note—from someone who is familiar with the subject—that says whether such concerns were any part of the Executive's considerations? That would be helpful. Factors to do with health, congestion and safety might feature more prominently than they did when the previous guidelines were drawn up.

Do you envisage receiving information from the Executive on that?

No—from an expert adviser or from the Scottish Parliament information centre. I would like to have a brief note so that we can understand the first principles behind the objectives of the guidelines. We could then discuss whether the guidelines meet those objectives.

That seems reasonable.

I would like us to cover the issue of safety. I understand that there is among our young people a higher incidence of accidents than among young people in some other European countries. We should cover that aspect of the guidelines on school transport.

It is difficult to discuss the guidelines without having seen them. In the light of discussions that took place in the previous session, it would be useful to know more about the costs to local authorities of implementing the guidelines. It is all very well having guidelines but, if local authorities do not have the money to implement them, we will not move any further on.

We will provide a note for members—perhaps not for the next meeting but certainly in the immediate future.