Buckinghamshire's bus companies helped with loss of income
They have lost out with kids staying at home
Bus companies which have lost out on income, with school kids staying at home, are going to be helped out by Buckinghamshire Council.
It's thought the 11 companies will lose around £400,000 during this lockdown.
Now they council is pledging around £300K up until February half term.
If lockdown is extended, another round will need to be looked at.
Eligibility and grant conditions include:
- Open to bus companies who run school only private bus routes servicing Buckinghamshire schools.
- Ensuring refunds/or credits are offered to parents whose child has been unable to attend school as a result of school closures
- Ensuring that the school bus routes all resume as normal once schools reopen, even where a phased pattern of return is in place.
- Confirmation that the company is not claiming for any costs able to be met by other Covid-19 support measures available to them and agrees to act on an open book basis.
There are approximately 3000 children who travel to Buckinghamshire schools on commercial school buses run entirely independently of the Council.
11 companies operate 50 school-only bus routes to 18 secondary schools.
This commercial service is funded from the companies selling tickets to parents directly.
A previous round of funding in 2020 ensured companies continued and were bale to provide services when schools re-opened in September.