Following a visit to Williams Coaches in Brecon, Fay Jones MP, Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnorshire has today called for the Welsh Government to providing extra funding for home to school transport.
The UK Government recently announced that local transport authorities in England will receive more than £40 million funding for the autumn term. This funding will help them create extra capacity and allow hundreds of thousands more students to use alternatives to public transport, while social distancing measures remain in place.
Prior to the UK Government announcement, Miss Jones met with Baroness Vere, Minister in the Department for Transport to discuss the issues facing the coach industry. During the meeting, Miss Jones raised the significant drop in income many transport companies have faced since the outbreak of Covid-19; the safety of passengers and drivers as journeys restart; and, the importance of the industry across the UK, and particularly in rural areas like Brecon and Radnorshire.
Today, Miss Jones has written to the Welsh Government requesting that they follow the UK Government's lead.
Miss Jones said:
"Recently I visited John and Rose Williams at Williams Coaches, Cambrian Way, Brecon.
"Williams Coaches is a company very close to all our hearts in Brecon and Radnorshire. Everybody I speak to at some point has travelled in a Williams Coach, whether it be a school run, a school trip to the zoo, a skiing trip, choir trips, Young farmers trips, playgroup trips, school swimming lessons or a Women’s Institute trip, the list is endless.
"The coach industry has suffered a cataclysmic drop in income since the outbreak of Covid-19, where as the bus industry has had a massive injection of funds, the coach industry has been allowed to languish at the side-lines.
"Following my meeting at Williams Coaches, I had a constructive meeting with Minister in the Department for Transport, Baroness Vere. I am incredibly pleased that the UK Government has listened to calls in industry and allocated extra funding for home to school transport in England. It is time the Welsh Government does the same.
"The safety of the children travelling to school as well as the coach drivers themselves is paramount. It’s a huge concern to me to think that whilst in school the children will be assigned to their various bubbles, but their school coach journey could be carrying age groups ranging from first year primary school to final year college students in close proximity. We must not undo all the good work done by us all in Wales thus far.
"Today I have written to the Welsh Government requesting that they follow the UK Government's lead and providing extra funding to local transport authorities."