Written question WQ88572

The Learner Travel Measure (Wales) 2008 (‘The Measure’) sets out the legal framework specifically related to travel and transport provisions for learners travelling from home to school in Wales.

Under the terms of the Measure, it is the responsibility of local authorities to make transport arrangements based on age, distance, aptitude and safety criteria for learners of statutory school age.

The Welsh Government provides funding to local authorities for school transport through the Local Government Revenue Settlement in the form of the Revenue Support Grant (RSG). The RSG is not ring-fenced; the funding allocated to each authority is available to the authority to spend as it sees fit on the range of services for which it is responsible, including school transport. In determining the level of funding required to deliver their statutory duties local authorities may draw on other sources of funding outside the RSG.

The Bus Bill will provide the Welsh Government, working alongside local authority partners, with the framework to ensure that access to a joined-up public transport network forms part of the provision of school transport within a franchised system.