Safety worries over scrapping Bradford school bus services

Bradford Council is proposing to withdraw school bus services serving Bingley Grammar School and St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College from September 2025 to save £500,000.

Children have spoken out about how the proposals would lengthen their day and parents and councillors are concerned the cuts would compromise the safety of children who would have to walk to school from outlying villages such as Wilsden, Cullingworth, Harden, Eldwick and Sandy Lane.

A bus navigates the narrow road near the Malt pub between Wilsden and Harden (Image: Newsquest)

One Wilsden parent, who has two children who attend Bingley Grammar, said: “If the Council want to cut costs it shouldn’t be at the expense of the kids and the actual taxpayers who rely on these services.

“A lot of people in this area rely on the buses to get their kids to school so they can work. Some may have to give up work.”

She added: “The Wilsden public bus service is really bad. We don’t have buses every 10 minutes like inner city Bradford.

Councillors Paul Sullivan and Geoffrey Winnard are worried that bus cuts could compromise the safety of children who have to walk to Bingley Grammar School (Image: Newsquest)

She also said: “Bingley is not classed as a safe walking route from Wilsden due to the bridge near the Malt pub not having a path for children to safely cross over.

“If they are to go the other way via Sandy Lane and Cottingley Moor Road this would then take over the recommended 75 minutes walk time.

“The Council is proposing these cuts to save money, yet they spend millions in the inner city creating pedestrianised areas or renovated buildings.”

Councillors Paul Sullivan and Geoffrey Winnard use their shoes to illustrate the narrowness of footpaths that children would have to use to walk to Bingley Grammar School (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Paul Sullivan (Cons, Bingley Rural) said: “We will vigorously resist this city-centric policy attacking the safety of our children by cuts to Bingley Rural school buses.

“Only weeks ago, Bradford Council received £12 million of taxpayers funding for bus priority measures and better conditions for pedestrians to develop high-quality and sustainable infrastructure for the city. Clearly this is not for rural areas.

“This is unfair in many ways, perhaps the most egregious is expecting children in the dark winter months to walk roads with no paths like the bridge near Malt pub. There are also 12-inch paths in parts of the Twines to Bingley Grammar.”

Councillors Paul Sullivan and Geoffrey Winnard illustrate the narrowness of footpaths that children would have to use to walk to Bingley Grammar School (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Geoff Winnard (Cons, Bingley Rural) said: “Bradford Council’s plans to end the dedicated bus services to Bingley Grammar School will cause real hardship and inconvenience to many families living in some of the rural villages outside of Bingley where there is no suitable alternative public transport.

“Many parents will have chosen to send their children to Bingley Grammar School on the basis.

One of the narrow pavements that children may have to walk along to get to school (Image: T&A) “Without a school bus service many parents will have the choice of letting their children walk unaccompanied for a few miles along narrow rural roads or using their cars and making worse the existing traffic issues around Bingley Grammar School.”

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “The council is facing unprecedented financial challenges and needs to look at every area where it can make savings.

“The proposals to change school travel arrangements, including the removal of dedicated bus services to Bingley Grammar School and St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College could save Bradford Council in excess of £0.5million a year.

“The proposals are subject to consultation and would also need approval by the council’s Executive. If agreed, they would be implemented from September 2025.

“There are very few children who use these buses who actually qualify for free transport, and those who do so would continue to have assisted transport provided for them whatever the outcome of the consultation.

“The council is working with the schools concerned to address any issues that could arise if the proposals go ahead.”

Councillors Paul Sullivan and Geoffrey Winnard with the 619 bus just over their right shoulders (Image: T&A) The Council also said in terms of works being done to Bradford city centre, a spokesperson said: “This major civil infrastructure project is being delivered through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority's Transforming Cities Fund.

“This is a capital grant transport fund, provided by the Department for Transport and cannot be used for other purposes, such as delivering day to day services or other projects.

The Council encouraged everyone to share their views on the consultation which ends on December 19, visit https://www.bradford.gov.uk/consultations/current-consultations/consultation-and-engagement/

Parent Georgina Clayton also called on people to sign a Bradford Council petition protesting the bus cuts by visiting bradford.moderngov.co.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=760&RPID=37291789&HPID=37291789. The Council petition expires on December 2.

She also said the school bus services matter to students at both schools.

Kiya Singh, 14, a Year 9 pupil at St Bede’s and St Joseph’s, said: “If the school buses stopped, I’d be upset and worried that I would have to take such long journeys on public buses. This would be hard in winter when it’s cold and dark. I’d be really tired and it would be hard in my GCSE years.”

One pupil said: "If we have to take public buses, I'd need to set off much earlier and get home much later. I need time to study and hang out with my friends. I don't want extra worry about getting to school.”

Another pupil, who is in year 7, said they would be “scared and anxious” using public buses.