Ventnor Blog

Of the 74 schools on the Isle of Wight, currently only 32 of them have School Travel Plans.

We noticed that a question had come up in Parliament yesterday in the written answer section, asked by Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet, Conservative),

(1) how many schools in England have school travel plans;

(2) how many schools in England have received public funding to help develop or implement school travel plans, broken down by local authority area.

Given the current proposed school changes on the Island, and, if they are implemented the need for transportation from areas where the school is closing, to the areas where the new schools would be, it makes us sit up to take attention.

Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families) replied

The Department for Children Schools and Families and the Department for Transport are providing £7.5 million a year to fund a network of local authority based school travel plan advisers to work with schools to develop and implement school travel plans. DCSF is providing £20 million a year in capital grants to support maintained schools with approved travel plans—worth around £5,000 for a typical primary and around £10,000 for a typical secondary school.

The table shows how many schools in England have received public funding to help develop or implement school travel plans by local authority area.

What is a School Travel Plan?
The definition from TeachersNet is “An effective school travel plan puts forward a package of measures to improve safety and reduce car use, backed by a partnership involving the school, education and transport officers from the local authority, the police and the health authority. It is based on consultation with teachers, parents, pupils and governors and other local people.”

Further details from TeachersNet and the IW council

Hansard source

School Reform, Island-wide, Education