Opposition leaders and the School Transport Action Group have issued a joint demand calling for the immediate cancellation of the council’s home-to-school transport policy. The move follows admissions during appeal hearings that the authority used incorrect digital mapping coordinates and non-existent private footpaths when assessing whether Dales pupils qualified for free transport.
Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Peter Lacey confirmed today that the council has breached its own stated guidelines, creating severe financial anxiety for rural families who were wrongly denied free transport passes.
The School Transport Action Group is demanding an immediate return to the traditional catchment-based system, as the Local Government Ombudsman investigates over twenty formal injustice complaints against the authority.