§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he proposes to take to ensure that(a) local education authorities and (b) individual schools (i) take steps to assess the safety of pupils on journeys between home and school and (ii) take action where appropriate to improve their safety. [135476]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeIn September 2003, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and I launched an Action Plan to encourage more children to walk, cycle and take the bus to school where it is safe for them to do so. We are encouraging all schools to put in place School Travel Plans, which will be developed jointly by schools, parents, local authorities and others. Safety will be an important consideration, and my Department is providing capital funding which can be used for safety related changes to school premises. Outside school premises, local authority highways departments are responsible for road safety and are an integral part of the school travel planning process.
Local education authorities arrange home to school transport where they consider it is necessary for pupils to get to school. In deciding on appropriate provision, they must consider several matters including pupils' ages and the nature of their routes to school. In "Travelling to School: an Action Plan", we set out 460W proposals to encourage local authorities to trial innovative school transport arrangements, and we identified pupils travelling along routes that their parents consider unsafe as a group who could benefit from exemplar schemes.