County Derry family waiting three years for school transport solution

A County Derry mother forced to make a daily hour-and-a-half round trip to collect her child from school has said she is 'beyond frustrated' at the system designed to source the correct transport.

Nuala Gibson's 17-year-old daughter Amy-Leigh attends Sandleford School in Coleraine, and has been waiting three years for the Education Authority (EA) to provide adequate transport for her journey home from school.

The issue first arose after the EA said they were no longer able to allow Amy-Leigh access to the standard school bus service.

“Amy-Leigh was put off the bus coming for everyone in Kilrea about three years ago now because of behavioural issues,” the Kilrea woman told Derry Now.

“She was lying down, kicking off and I totally understood at that stage why they were taking her off it. They said she would be better in a taxi with an escort, and that they'd put it out to tender.

Amy-Leigh attends Sandleford School in Coleraine.

“I said that was fine, as they said it would only take a few weeks. They would send a bus for her in the morning after the actual school run was done.

“The bus comes to pick her up at 9.30 in the morning, which means I have to get my mum to come up and sit while I take the other three kids to school.

“I have another wee boy with special needs as well, and he won't travel with anybody else, he's got his own issues, so she is having to come and sit with Amy-Leigh while she waits for the bus to come.

“Then I was doing the 3 o'clock run, but Ollie was getting out of school at 2 o'clock, so I had to pick him up, get Amy-Leigh in Coleraine and be back to pick up at three.

“That was to be for a few weeks, but this is three years later and absolutely nothing has changed at all. I'm beyond frustrated.”

After a year of making do with the situation, Nuala rang the EA to seek an update on the progress of the tender process, only to find out it had ground to a halt.

“I wanted to see if something could be done, because clearly nothing was working, but I found out they had stopped putting it out for tender because no one was taking it on,” she said.

“There is definitely going to be nobody taking it up for tender if they don't know that the run is needed.

“They said because they were giving me the parental payment, they were no longer putting it out for tender, but I wanted them to get a taxi sorted.

“If they were paying a taxi and an escort, £300 is nothing compared to what they would be handing out. They said they would pay the double run at £600, but it still wasn't covering the fuel.”

Nuala had been given some hope this summer that Amy-Leigh would be able to travel once again on the standard bus run, but was again left frustrated.

“During the summer they messaged me and said they would try her on the bus again if no one took it up for tender,” she said.

“I said 'happy days' because I know she would be okay on the bus again now, so they said once she was settled back into school, if nobody picks up the tender, they'd get her back on in mid-September.

“I was then speaking to the man last week, and he rang back to let me know that there were no seats on the normal bus for Amy-Leigh, so that's not happening either.”

Nuala even made attempts to source a taxi and an escort herself, only to be told the transport provision had to go through the tender process.

East Derry Aontú representative Gemma Brolly has been working with a number of local families experiencing similar issues.

“I have spoken to many mothers recently, desperate seeking a way to get their children to and from school,” she said.

“Some have had to reduce their working hours, turn down work or stop working all together just so their child can access education. This is hugely concerning.

East Derry Aontú representative Gemma Brolly.

“I have spoken to a mother of a young person with special educational needs who has been trying for two years to obtain transport to a special school.

“She has three other children who are attending another school and need to be there for the same time. “The tender, to transport her child to a special school has been issued at least 5 times to no avail.”

Ms Brolly called on the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to put in place measures to support taxi driver entering the industry, in a bid to increase the number of drivers to meet the growing demand.

“The previous Minister for Infrastructure implemented various measures such as free taximeter tests or drivers and operators up until February 2022 and financial support to cover DVA fees for new drivers who obtained their taxi driver and vehicle licence from April 2021 to March 2022,” she said.

“This same situation continues however, and these measures have since ceased. I have written to the current Minister of Infrastructure Mr John O’Dowd to not only implement these measures again but to review the current state of provision of educational transport which is no longer fit for purpose.

“The current situation is not good enough. Our young people and their parents deserve so much better,” she added.

The EA said the shortage of taxi drivers was impacting on services this September.

“Whilst taxi operators had been confirmed by EA over the summer months, the continuing challenges facing the taxi industry (40% decrease in taxi operators in the last 5-6 years) has resulted in an unprecedented number of operators notifying us at short notice, that they are unable to fulfil their contracted routes,” said a spokesperson.

“We understand the significant impact late cancellations or no-shows can have on a pupil and their family and we do our best to confirm alternative transport arrangements and/or notify the family in a timely manner.

“We are continuing to work hard to ensure sufficient capacity is available on the school transport network and have established the provision of rolling contracts to help the delivery of our transport services.

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“Where it is not possible to secure an operator we work with families to develop alternative arrangements such as a parental payment.

“As pupils start back to school we ask for parents’ continued patience while pupils and operators alike settle into their new timetables and routes.

“Parents with any queries or concerns relating to home to school transport can contact our helpline from Monday – Friday between 9.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 4.30pm, please call 028 95 98 59 59.”

Derry Now has also approached the Department for Infrastructure for comment.