§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will seek information as to how many primary school transport services deliver children to points which are neither in, nor adjacent to, the school premises, how many such situations are supervised by education authority staff and how many children are involved, with a view to assessing whether the duties in this respect laid upon education authorities should be more explicit or extensive; and whether, following accidents or other problems, he has received any representations on this subject.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherNo. The arrangements for the provision of school transport are the responsibility of education authorities. My right hon. Friend has received very few representations about school transport matters, and I have no reason to think that authorities do not discharge their obligations responsibly with due regard for the safety of children.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children attend public primary schools; for what percentage of that total is transport provided by the education authority; and what percentage of children use the transport which is provided.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherInformation on the numbers of children receiving free school transport is not collected annually. The latest information available relates to September 1980 when 179,514 children, representing 19.4 per cent. of a total school population of 926,160, were receiving free transport. Separate figures for primary school pupils are not available.