Change to free school transport despite concerns it will disadvantage students

Merthyr councillors agreed the changes which will remove Coleg Y Cymoedd in Ystrad Mynach and Aberdare, and Bridgend College in Pencoed from the service

Changes to free post-16 school and college transport in Merthyr Tydfil have been approved despite concerns they would disadvantage some students. Full council on Wednesday, October 2, approved changes to the service which would see free post-16 transport provided only to The College, Merthyr Tydfil, Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun for Welsh-medium education post-16, and St John Baptist Church in Wales High School for pupils attending the school for statutory education.

This option removes transport to Coleg Y Cymoedd in Ystrad Mynach and Aberdare and Bridgend College’s Pencoed campus. But opposition independent councillors raised concerns that this would disadvantage students who wanted to study courses not available at The College, Merthyr Tydfil.

Councillor Lisa Mytton, Independent, said it’s not fair and equitable to those where they can’t provide the provision within the authority so they are “disadvantaging” young people within the borough by taking away this transport. She said it wouldn’t help keep students studying in the borough because they were not providing the courses that they needed. She also raised questions about the savings saying that they didn’t know the actual figure.

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Turning to the impact on NEETs (Not in Employment Education or Training) she said: “These are our most vulnerable students, doesn’t matter whether it’s one, ten or a hundred. “These are our most vulnerable young people and we should be doing everything in our power to protect them.”

She said she couldn’t support it because it was not properly reported, the figures weren’t true and that she was pressed to listen to public consultation on The Greenie in 2021 when she was the leader so she was going to here. Councillor Michelle Symonds, Independent, said that, even going with this option, “we are restricting our young people’s opportunities which I don’t believe fits or aligns with our RARS strategy which is the Raising Aspirations and Raising Standards.”

Councillor Geraint Thomas, Independent, said: “We want our young people, our children, to get the best possible start to life. That’s what we say in this council, the best possible start to life.” He asked: “Why would we want to harm our children’s aspirations at 16 so they can’t do the courses that they want to do for a couple of thousand pounds? I’m sorry I can’t support that. Let’s keep the children’s dreams alive. That’s what Merthyr Tydfil should be about.”

But Councillor Declan Sammon, Dowlais and Pant Community Independent, said the report hadn’t been worked on for the two weeks that the new leadership had been in but it had to be something that the previous cabinet and leadership would have known about for ages. Councillor Brent Carter, the new Labour leader of the council, highlighted that the consultation figures supporting the two main options were 52% to remain as opposed to 39% for the chosen option which was “certainly not overwhelming.” To get all the latest Merthyr Tydfil news straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

He said there was no legal obligation to provide free transport to post 16 students but it was clear from the consultation that completely removing this would have a “negative impact” for many and “create barriers to education.” He said he was pleased it would continue to Merthyr College for those who lived three miles or more away and that it would continue to Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun and John Baptist Church in Wales High School.

Cllr Carter said they had almost two years to work in partnership with Merthyr College to ensure that as many pathways and courses as possible that currently sat outside the county borough were provided. Following a review of council services with the aim of achieving financial savings post-16 transport has been identified as one that is currently delivered above statutory levels.

There is no statutory duty to provide free transport to post-16 learners who continue their studies in mainstream further education or training and the council’s current post-16 transport service is a discretionary one. The report is putting forward options for post-16 transport to “become more efficient and sustainable now and over the long-term”.

Transport is either provided by dedicated learner transport such as a coach, minibus, or taxi, or through travel passes on public transport (train or bus). In academic year 2023-24 there were 177 post-16 students awarded transport via the current post-16 transport policy.

The changes will take effect from September, 2025, but students who have already started post-16 education before September, 2025, will continue to receive free transport for the full duration of their course. The removal of post-16 transport would only affect those pupils starting courses from September, 2025, onwards.