It could make the world of difference to thousands
Andy Burnham has given an update on a potential Bee Network shake-up for thousands of passengers after EIGHT MPs told him to change things.
The Manchester Evening News is calling on the mayor to give homeless children a free bus pass if they are placed in temporary accommodation more than a 30 minutes’ walk from school.
Current rules say Greater Manchester’s children are only eligible for free transport to school if they live more than two miles from class, and there is no ‘suitable school’ nearer. But it’s almost-impossible to be further than three miles from a school in the city.
As many of the city’s 8,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation are in facilities miles from home, that presents their parents a difficult choice: Pay for buses they previously didn’t need, or move their children to a different, closer school, if places are available.
Now, Debbie Abrahams has become the eighth MP to back the campaign, saying ‘we must ease the burden on children and their families’.
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The Oldham East and Saddleworth Labour MP said: “More than 8,000 children are among the families living in temporary accommodation across Greater Manchester including 725 Oldham children. This is simply unacceptable.
“We must ease the burden on children and their families by implementing a free bus pass to those who are placed far from school. Ensuring equal access to education is one of the most powerful tools we have for confronting the root causes of poverty, inequality, and the barriers families face to progress.
“No child should have their learning disrupted simply because they cannot get to school. I urge Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, to consider this concession as he reviews his upcoming budget so that free bus passes can enable our most vulnerable children across Greater Manchester to thrive.”
Other MPs lending their support include Labour’s Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South), Rebecca Long-Bailey (Salford), Christian Wakeford (Bury South), Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South and Walkden), and Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme). Two Liberal Democrats have also lent their support: Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) and Tom Morrison (Cheadle).
Andy Burnham promised in September to ‘look carefully’ at the M.E.N. campaign. In a new update, he said the proposal is being examined for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s budget for the next financial year.
He said last week (December 3): “What might open the door is we are moving to a more interventionist space as a combined authority when we signed off using 400 empty properties to reduce the bill in temporary accommodation.
“As part of the support packages there’s an opportunity to link the two. I cannot say more than that because we are in discussions over the budget which come to a head in January… we have the 9:30am rule to look at, we have a lot of things to consider.
“We are looking at all of it. I am sympathetic.”
