Parents near Banbury left in the dark over school transport as term begins

Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for organising home-to-school transport for eligible pupils across the county, including allocating places on school bus services.

However, parents in several villages have been left confused over school bus arrangements this term, with some families unsure whether their children have a place at all.

One North Newington mother, whose daughter was due to start Year 11 at The Warriner School, said they had received a travel pass for the WA06 service, which previously operated from North Newington to the school.

However, she also received a letter from Oxfordshire County Council on Wednesday (September 2), just two days before her daughter started term, saying it was “clarifying the travel position” and that her daughter would be travelling on the WA06 service operated by Pulhams.

When the parent contacted Pulhams, however, she was told there would be no bus travelling through the village to the school.

She said Oxfordshire County Council subsequently advised her to send her daughter to the bus stop and, if a bus arrived, she should get on it.

Things became even more confusing for the family when a taxi arrived at their door on Thursday (September 3), saying it was there to take her to school, despite her daughter not starting until Friday.

The mother also said other families in the village had been left unsure whether they had transport arrangements in place.

The parent said the county council had told her the problems were “countywide” and that it had “made a huge mess of it”.

She said she had also raised the issue with the school as a safeguarding concern.

Concerns have also been raised about the lack of information being provided to schools, with The Warriner School saying it had not been kept up to date or given access to bus routes, timetables or student lists.

Banbury MP Sean Woodcock and Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds have written to the council’s cabinet member for transport, Cllr Gareth Epps, expressing their concerns.

They said: “The OCC website is still showing the 25/26 timetable and is therefore incorrect, and families across at least seven villages surrounding Banbury, including constituents in areas such as Epwell, have been left completely in the dark regarding how their children will travel to school.

“Receiving no transport information as late as the day before, or even the day of, the return to school has left parents feeling abandoned.”

The letter states that, due to the confusion, Year 7 students in particular “would not have been aware of which provider was turning up, if any.”

The letter also claimed school staff had been trying to contact the council’s transport department daily since August 24 without success, before being redirected to an AI-generated answering system.

Mr Woodcock and Dame Anneliese Dodds said: “This total breakdown in communication poses a serious safeguarding risk. In the event of an emergency, neither parents nor school staff have access to information regarding active routes or which service had been provided. Additionally, some students were left with very late-running buses, or no bus provision at all.

“Having previously nearly forced Banbury children to attend school in Bicester, the council’s ongoing operational failures are now leaving students stranded on country roads without transport. It is an unacceptable situation.”

The letter also highlighted the impact on families of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), who were still waiting for transport arrangements to be confirmed.

Mr Woodcock and Dame Anneliese Dodds added: “We would like to hear an immediate resolution to these issues, full transparent access to transport schedules for affected areas, and direct communication for all impacted families.

“We will remain in close contact with your department and our constituents until suitable, safe transport is fully secured for every child.”

In response, Oxfordshire County Council said the vast majority of students had been allocated school transport for this term and that it was finalising places for the remaining 45 who were still without.

A council spokesperson said: “Less than one per cent of those who applied before the deadline are still waiting for travel arrangements to be put in place.

“Unfortunately, around 500 travel information applications from families of eligible children reached us after the deadline we shared with parents last academic year, or we are still waiting for their forms.

“Delays in receiving applications can occur for a number of reasons, such as parents waiting for confirmation of a school placement, the outcome of a transport appeal, or because parents didn’t submit the application on time. Before our team can begin working on a request, a completed travel information form is needed from the family.”

The council also said there were around 200 SEND post-16 travel arrangements still awaiting finalisation because it had not received the school or college timetable information needed from families.

In response to concerns from parents of Warriner students, the council added that the confusion over school bus places was a unique situation and was not connected to parents applying for transport after the deadline had passed.

The spokesperson added: “Regarding The Warriner School, a specific situation arose linked to some of the routes to the school, which could not have been foreseen and was not linked to the timeliness of transport arrangements being confirmed with parents.

“We can confirm that transport arrangements for eligible students travelling to The Warriner School are already in place.”