Herefordshire Council's cabinet considered changes to the education transport policy when it met on Thursday December 19th.

The policy changes were recommended following a six week public consultation in September and October, which received over 500 individual responses and petition signatories from across the county.

In terms of compulsory education, the council currently provides free transport for pupils in year 11 and below to either their nearest school or a school in their catchment area. It is proposed to change this to the statutory requirement of providing free transport to the nearest school only. The change would be implemented in September 2014, but would not affect those GCSE students entering years 10 and 11 at that time. This is an amendment to the original proposal in light of the consultation responses received.

For those families bordering Wales, the council will also provide transport for children to attend their nearest school, whether it is in England or Wales, giving parents more choice.

The council is also developing a new online facility which will allow parents to enter their postcode and automatically find the location of their five nearest primary and secondary schools. This will be available on the council's website shortly.

For the full story please see this week's Ross Gazette.