Wirral school hours face change to fit round bus timetables

Nov 5 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

SECONDARY schools in Wirral could be made to change their opening times so that school buses can get to them on time.

The borough’s education department has been asked by Merseytravel to arrange a meeting with secondary schools to discuss the options.

It could mean some schools opening half an hour earlier or later so the same buses can be used for pupils going to other schools.

The issue has come about since the fury over the “F Buses” which had been funded by the council to allow children to get to West Kirby and Calday Grange Grammars.

Unlike other bus routes which are subsidised by Merseytravel, these had been funded by the council, which cut the £60,000 subsidy earlier this year, putting up bus travel costs by 60%. Following the outcry, council leader Steve Foulkes said high-level negotiations with Merseytravel meant that, in the short term, the transport authority agreed to help fund this year’s buses and look at taking over the service.

A Merseytravel spokesman said: “These are the only school buses in the county provided by the local education authority, so we have been working closely with Wirral Borough Council to see how we can best weld them into our countywide school bus network and create a level playing field across the region.”

Last night, Cllr Foulkes said: “I know they are thinking of creating a fleet of buses and to get the maximum they are going to talk to schools about whether they can stagger opening and closing times. That would be a matter for individual schools to make a decision.

“I think schools are very proactive and want as many pupils to be able to go to them as possible.”

Merseytravel currently contracts 67 buses to serve 26 schools in the Wirral area.

A spokeswoman for Wirral LEA confirmed Merseytravel had asked them to speak to secondary headteachers to “see what efficiencies we could help them make”.

OPINION: PAGE 10

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