Parents in South Buckinghamshire are in a ‘nightmare’ situation as they struggle to secure school transport for their children with the start of term just weeks away.

Bus capacity has been reduced by Buckinghamshire Council in some areas and by bus companies pulling out of the area, local councillors told the Bucks Free Press.

The authority has cancelled the second school bus from the Ivers area to Chalfont Community College, meaning it no longer provides any bus transport along this route.

Cllr Julie Cook of the Ivers Parish Council said: “Parents are beside themselves. People are saying we can’t afford it. We have had some preliminary discussions about hiring and running a bus service ourselves.

“The administration and overheads would probably be beyond us, especially in a short period of time. It is very distressing, and the types of responses [from the Bucks Council] are simply inadequate.”

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Meanwhile, Bourne End Academy has also scrapped its bus service for pupils coming to the school from Burnham.

Carol Linton, the vice chair of Burnham Parish Council, said: “To get children to Bourne End Academy from Burnham, there are no seats.

“Parents have been told to hire a minibus. The cheapest offer they have got is £3,000 per child for a sixteen-seater minibus. The parents are going scatty.”

The councillor stressed that Bucks Council ‘have got to be involved’ to help parents struggling to find ways to send their children to school.

Stuart Blackhurst is among the parents who still do not know how they will get their children to school come September.

He told the Free Press: “It has turned out to be a real bloody nightmare. Even the parents we know whose children are eligible for free transportation don’t know what is happening yet.”

Stuart and his wife, who have lived in Burnham since 2006, are sending their youngest son to Bourne End Academy after he did not pass the eleven-plus test to get into a grammar school like his sister.

But after their son got his place, the couple received an email from Bourne End Academy in June telling them that the coach laid on by the secondary school would be cancelled from September and to apply to the council to see if their son would be eligible for free school transport.

Stuart, a financial services consultant, said: “I would like more information from the school and the council. We have no idea what is going on.”

Most children do not qualify for free school transport in Buckinghamshire but may be eligible if they are between five and 16 years old and go to their nearest suitable school.

Stuart, who is originally from Cornwall, said: “We weren’t expecting free transport, and we knew that bus was laid on by Bourne End from Burnham, but we were a bit stuck.”

They contacted the school, which referred them to the council, which in turn suggested they club together with other parents to hire a private coach or lift share, or that their son take public transport.

Stuart said that hiring a coach proved very difficult because unlike the council and school, he was unable to access a list of children and parents that were affected.

Through posting messages on Facebook and other efforts, he managed to compile a list of 14 children but realised that this would not be cost-effective for hiring a minibus.

The cheapest quote the parents got from a council list of preferred operators was £1,700, while the most expensive was £4,200.

Meanwhile, private taxi hire was quoted at £12 per day per child – or £2,280 annually over the 190-day school year.

Stuart said: “I looked at bus routes, that is just a no-go from Burnham to Bourne End. You have to use two buses, there is a wait between the buses. It is an hour journey for something that is four miles, so that is really a non-starter.”

The father also explained that taking the train was more reasonable in terms of cost but that ‘tight changeovers’ and unreliable services meant it was unviable and that the only option left was to lift-share.

Stuart said he and his wife may have been able to pay £929 a year for a place on a council-run school bus via its ‘Spare Seats’ scheme – a considerably cheaper option than private transport.

Spare seats in this scheme are prioritised for children who have been adopted, as well as pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and those whose parents are in the armed forces.

However, Stuart pointed out that even if they managed to get onto the scheme, their son’s place on a bus would be uncertain due to a clause in the council’s home to school transport policy, which states that purchased seats can be ‘withdrawn’ at just five days’ notice if the seat is required for an eligible child.

He said: “You can’t plan with that. That is just ridiculous and completely unacceptable.”

Steven Broadbent, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for transport claimed that the council’s home to school transport policy was clear that where a child was not attending their nearest school, they were not automatically eligible for council-funded transport.

The councillor said the local authority reviewed school transport options every year to ensure best value for money for taxpayers.

He told the Free Press: “As part of the process with this year’s review, some routes no longer provide value for money given the low numbers of eligible children who are travelling on them.

“Acknowledging the consequential need to withdraw such services, we have been in discussion with a number of commercial transport operators on behalf of parents.”

He added that he thought school transport provision would be available for all students attending Chalfont Community College, who were affected by the cancelled services.