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Consumer Council Welcomes Minister’s School Transport Measures
Tuesday 5 September 2006
The Consumer Council has applauded the decisive action taken by Maria Eagle, the Children’s Minister’s to make school bus journeys here safer and more comfortable.
A groundbreaking £37m school transport reform package announced today will deliver on the key demands made strenuously and repeatedly by the Consumer Council and others, including young people themselves, since the Assembly's Environment Committee made its recommendations in 2001.
Eleanor Gill, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council said:
“This is a major breakthrough for the 110,000 children who travel to and from school by bus each day. Unique local research published in June by the Consumer Council, Children's Commissioner and the Department for Regional Development[1] painted an alarming picture of young people's views of school transport. Eight out of ten were unhappy with taking the bus citing key concerns about safety, comfort and poor behaviour.
“The Minister has taken prompt action to champion the cause of safer school journeys by delivering a comprehensive package of key measures as the new school year begins. Time has been called on the “3 for 2” rule by April next year, as well as the phasing out of standing on all school buses by April 2009. All Education and Library Board buses are expected to have seatbelts fitted by 2011[2] and the 110 new buses being commissioned for school use will all have seatbelts. In addition, school buses being replaced and/or refurbished will all have seatbelts fitted on board.
“The Consumer Council believes that these measures are the ticket to a safer, more secure, enjoyable and sustainable home to school transport service to meet the needs of our young passengers and their parents. We also welcome the road safety measures announced today including clear signage for school buses and a 25 per cent increase in the Government's Safer Routes to Schools Programme tacking the safety and environmental issues around the 'School Run'.”
Turning to the key issue of implementation, Eleanor Gill continued:
“The Minister has demonstrated the art of the possible in harnessing the energy and resources across many Government departments. The challenge now is to deliver on these as well as to address other areas which can contribute to making all school journeys safer including walking and cycling initiatives.”
“A lot of hard work is needed to make sure that young people's experiences of school transport are positive if we are to encourage them to continue to use public transport as adults. The Consumer Council will continue to play a full and positive role with the Government, young people and other key stakeholders to promote and maintain a safe and comfortable school bus transport service now and in the future”.
- The Consumer Council/NICCY Report - Safer Routes to School - is available at www.gccni.org.uk/online_documents/saferJourneysReport.pdf
Key findings include:
· 81 per cent of pupils are unhappy about travelling to school by bus
· The main concerns are standing, 3 for 2 and lack of seatbelts
· 52 per cent of children and 63 per cent of parents expressed concerns about safety on public transport
2. The NI Assembly Environment Committee report on Home to School Transport published in 2001 is available at www.niassembly.gov.uk/environment/reports/report1-01r.htm
- Consumer Council media contact: Susie Brown, telephone, 028 9067 4807 or e-mail, sbrown@consumercouncil.org.uk.
- The Consumer Council is an independent consumer organisation, working to bring about change to benefit Northern Ireland's consumers. The Council campaigns for high standards of service and protection and a fair deal for all. It also carries out research, gives advice and publishes reports and other publications. It deals with individual complaints about electricity, natural gas, coal and passenger transport.
For more information, visit our website at www.consumercouncil.org.uk
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