School bus seat belts law would 'give peace of mind to many parents'

A new law aimed at making seat belts compulsory on school buses would give parents across Scotland equal "peace of mind", MSPs have heard.

SNP backbencher Gillian Martin has brought forward a member's bill aimed at making seat belts a legal requirement on all dedicated vehicles taking children from their homes to classes across Scotland, currently carried out voluntarily by 18 of Scotland's 32 councils.

Ms Martin said the schools her children attend in Aberdeenshire have voluntarily decided to have seat belts on school buses and she wanted all parents to have the same peace of mind she had when sending her children off to school.

She told Holyrood's Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee she wanted to be proactive in changing the law, instead of having to legislate following a "terrible accident" on a bus, citing that 42 children have been injured in school bus crashes in five years.

The MSP said: "I think 42 injuries is 42 injuries too many.

"I would not like to be in the position where we had a bill put in place because we had a terrible accident on a school bus where seat belts weren't installed.

"I think it's a preventative measure. It's one that will give peace of mind to many parents putting their children on school buses."

The Seat Belts on School Transport (Scotland) Bill covers installation of seat belts as laws regulating wearing of seat belts are reserved to Westminster, but when questioned on enforcement Ms Martin said she believed education from a young age is key and stressed there was "good compliance" in the areas already signed up voluntarily.

She also faced questions on whether the £8.9 million funding for the new law would line the pockets of private bus contractors.

John Finnie of the Greens asked if the government was "rewarding failure to act" as more than half of local authorities had voluntarily signed up and questioned who would get the money.

SNP MSP John Mason questioned if the volunteer councils had "done it for nothing" why they or the remaining local authorities should be paid extra.

Ms Martin said it had cost money for the areas which had volunteered, denied the law was rewarding failure and said the money goes back to 2014.

She said the figure had been agreed by Cosla and the government and added: "Negotiations are going to take place between the various local authorities, Cosla and the government as to who gets what money and why."

Scottish Government road safety policy officer Brendan Rooney said the money would be part of the block grant paid to local authorities and would go to both those areas which already volunteered and those who had not.