§ Mr.Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information is available to her of the number of local authorities (a) which own and run their own school transport and (b) which use private contractors; and what percentage of schoolchildren in each case use this transport.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe latest available information relates to 1972, when about 50 per cent. of the 900,000 pupils in England and Wales who received free transport were conveyed by contract vehicles—whether privately or publicly owned—and just over 2 per cent. travelled on LEA-owned vehicles.