'Privilege transport' fees to be scrapped

Charges for spare seats on school transport in East Renfrewshire will be scrapped, it has been agreed.

- DREW SANDELANDS, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

Cabinet members at East Renfrewshire Council have approved the removal of fees for ‘privilege transport’ from early September as not all vehicles are fully compliant with accessibility regulations.

The way places are allocated is also being changed with a new distance-based ranking for all applications rather than a ballot.

School transport is provided for pupils who live two or more miles from their allocated primary and three or more miles from their allocated secondary.

When there are leftover seats, they are offered to non-eligible families through the council's privilege transport scheme.

At the cabinet meeting, a council official said: “Ultimately, unless we are able to ensure every single vehicle operating school transport services was compliant with all aspects of the required regulations, we'd be unable to levy any charges for that service.