Conservative Group Leaders Cllrs Steve Bell CBE, Mary Mears and Lee Wares have today called on the Labour administration’s Deputy Leader John Allcock to respond more proactively to school closures and arrange for any spare capacity in the Home to School Transport Programme to be utilised to support the vulnerable who may be self-isolating.
The Home to School Transport Programme, which has an agreed budget for the year, currently employs around 150 taxi drivers and just under 100 trained and DBS-checked escorts to help transport vulnerable children to school every day.
Conservative Group Deputy Leader Councillor Mears said that the taxi industry, including the GMB union, had expressed urgent concerns about the impact of imminent school closures on its Home to School drivers and that Labour had not responded satisfactorily.
“The industry is concerned that its Home to School drivers will have limited work for the foreseeable future with school closures” Cllr Mears said.
“While there may be some demand for children of key workers, there are fears that many drivers will be left unemployed.
“So far Labour has responded to the industry by trying to pass the buck to the Government and avoid responsibility rather than suggest solutions. Now is the time to start thinking outside the box.
“A win-win solution could be to use any spare capacity in the programme to redirect drivers to support the vulnerable including the elderly at this time – perhaps by delivering food or supplies in a safe way to those that are self-isolating. Also, with the trade’s expertise, offer outings for vulnerable children to help relieve the pressure on their families and also support NHS staff to and from work.
“This would provide certainty to the industry, keep drivers in a job, support our elderly and vulnerable residents and key support workers and have no impact on the budget.
“We know that Labour has seriously mismanaged the Home to School Transport Programme from the start but we stand ready to assist in making the most out of the budgeted money in this difficult time.
“Labour’s Deputy Leader John Allcock, who is responsible for this programme, needs to act faster and should start talking to the nine operators supplying contractors to the council for Home to School Transport, which would provide a signal to the industry that he has a plan.” Cllr Mears said.
