§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of transportation issues on further education in rural areas. [36030]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisIn 2001 we have commissioned a study into transport services and support for students in further education. This highlighted the difficulties in travelling to school and college experienced by students including those in rural areas. Some students do suffer from both a lack of transport services and high costs.
In response to this, we introduced a clause in the current Education Bill in order to revise section 509 of the Education Act 1996 and to clarify the duty on LEAs. This together with new requirements on the Learning and Skills Council and Further Education Institutions will result in more effective transport services and support for students of 16-19. We are also reviewing the transport support available to older students.
I have also made available an additional £9 million to 76 LEAs from April 2002 to help them to develop and test the most effective approaches to providing transport support in both urban and rural areas.