Council promises to sort school bus shambles
MyWelshpool’s in-box has been pinging with complaints along with shocking pictures showing children crammed onto a bus.
Last night alone, children had to wait 45 minutes for their bus to take them home after school, with one student telling us that some gave up and started walking home.
Parents have been understandably fuming with one telling us that for nine days in a row she had tried contacting someone at Powys County Council but had not received a response. She said that she has not been told yet what bus her children are supposed to take.
Currently, two buses service Guilsfield’s 35 high school children. One being a 70-seater public service bus and the second being a 41-seater specific school bus. But these both collect passengers and pupils along the way and are already busy by the time they reach the village.
And insiders at both Welshpool High School and Ysgol Llanfyllin have told us that no transport has been provided for sixth formers this term that need to travel between the schools, leaving the schools to book taxis and bill the local authority.
Powys has conceded that there are problems and have vowed to sort it out.
A spokesperson for Powys County Council told us this morning: “The council is aware of the concerns raised regarding the school transport service operating to Welshpool High School.
“We acknowledge the issues experienced on the service bus, particularly around seating capacity and timing. These matters are being actively addressed in collaboration with transport operator to ensure improvements are made as swiftly as possible.
“We would like to clarify that no communication has been blocked by the council, nor would it ever be. Staff within the Passenger Transport Team aim to respond to correspondence at their earliest opportunity, and in line with council policy, have up to 10 working days to do so. We recognise the importance of timely responses given the essential nature of the service we provide.
“Ahead of the new school year, we communicated changes to school transport arrangements through multiple channels. All schools were written to during the summer term and asked to inform parents of the changes, recognising that not all learners would be new to transport. In addition, we published reminders on our social media platforms advising parents to check their child’s allocated route, as some may have changed.
“It is standard practice to convey secondary school learners on local bus services wherever possible. This approach has been successfully implemented for many years and remains a safe and efficient method of transport provision. We do not convey primary-aged learners on public service buses.
“For secondary-aged learners, the distance from home to the designated pick-up point can be up to two miles. It is the responsibility of parents or guardians to ensure their child arrives at the pick-up point in time for the journey to school and is collected safely at the end of the day.
“Post-16 learner movement between schools is subject to change on a daily basis during the first two weeks of the autumn term. To support learners who need to travel to other school sites to study A-level subjects, schools submit lists of those requiring Post-16 transport at the start of the autumn term.
“Once these requirements are received, the necessary transport is tendered, giving all approved Powys operators the opportunity to bid for the provision of these services.
“In July 2025, an agreement was reached between all Powys high schools and the council that Post-16 transport contracts would be awarded and operational from September 15, 2025.
“However, if schools wanted the transport to operate before the 15 September then they could procure temporary transport until a formal award had been made in line with procurement rules.
“We remain committed to ensuring that all learners travel safely and reliably to and from school and continue to work closely with operators, schools, and families to resolve any concerns.”
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