School children should receive free bus travel before pensioners?

[Itchthescratch]

My child is starting a school where it will cost around £2k for bus travel. This school is local and one of the closest schools to us. The other schools close to us are much worse in terms of opportunities and academic outcomes. I can afford the bus fare easily but I worry that some poorer families will really struggle to send their children to the higher achieving school because of the cost.

I understand that there isn't an endless pot of money but surely it would make sense to give school children free travel ahead of other groups like pensioners? School children are statistically much more likely to suffer from poverty (child poverty is almost double pensioner poverty)and it seems crazy that we aren't supporting social mobility whilst we let all pensioners travel for free on buses.

Where the government could save money is to align free prescriptions with state pension age, there is no good reason for working people to get free prescriptions just because they’ve turned 60.

If many pensioners are not paying for their care home, then they are not rich and technically are poor, something you claim most pensioners aren’t. Also they may get a choice due to how much care they require. Don’t know if you have been in many care homes but the pensioners are not living the high life there.

That is my point disabled people quite rightly get free passes if they qualify one of the criteria is being on benefits that has a mobility element. Pensioners cannot claim these benefits unless already on them before state pension age the only thing my husband could claim is attendance allowance which would not qualify him as it is for care needs only. I am certainly not against working age people with disabilities getting free bus passes I am glad they do but my point is that if his senior pass was taken away from him and there are no qualifying disability benefits available to him to get a disabled pass is ge supposed to just sit at home

Of course I don't think there is a bottomless pit of money. I think the absolute opposite hence I haven't just proposed that school kids travel for free and no cuts are made. I have suggested a cost cutting measure (removing universal OAP bus passes) to help off set any additional money spent.

I know that funds exist in schools for poorer kids to access the things you listed as I receive literature about them every year. The fund will pay for music lessons and trips etc. You don't need to be on FSM to access these funds necessarily, in fact they often emphasis the opposite.

My kids have been to 4 different schools and my experience is that uniform rules have not been stricter in better performing schools. Either way there are new rules now that limit the amount of branded uniform items a school can mandate and every school I've had contact with has a uniform bank.

I agree that you can't override the importance of parental involvement. Many kids are saddled with parents that don't care enough. This doesn't mean though that we force all poor kids to attend crap, super local schools because they can't afford to live in nicer areas with better schools. If they and their parents are willing to commit to travelling further for a better education then why on earth wouldn't you encourage this?

🤣You just make the same points ad nauseum and ignore what anybody says on repeat.

OAPs don’t get a choice if in state funded care! Also every penny somebody has ever saved or has in equity is taken off them before they get help with care homes fees from the state whereas those who have frittered money and not saved their entire lives get it all paid. Many pensioners are poor and not wealthy and should be encouraged to use buses anyway. We need less cars on the road and OAPs have more flexibility with time.

Public transport for long journeys over 3 miles is not practical anyway. It’s a lot more expensive, involves multiple connections and is unreliable with children getting to school late.

You could simply allow those who claim attendance allowance a free bus pass. I don't think many would begrudge this.

Yes they do often get a choice of it's state funded care. You spout untruths with such confidence. The state also doesn't take every penny of savings and equity to fund care. You can keep £14k.

I think the people actually using the bus service are better placed to work out whether the bus would meet their needs than your weird insistence that it won't.

Mine went to the local state school.

Yes, healthy life expectancy in this country is about age 60. In some areas, it’s age 55. People with multiple chronic diseases are unlikely to be able to work, but don’t qualify for the state pension until 67 plus. They have to claim benefits to live anyway. It is cheaper for the NHS, if people with chronic diseases get free prescriptions, rather than not be able to afford them and present with an acute episode to hospitals instead:

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies

Most pensioners aren't poor. A minority are. This isn't my opinion, it's fact and backed up by statistics. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Children shouldn't have a choice of school then old people reliant on the state for their care shouldn't either. Perhaps them being in the crap care hole will raise the standards of the care home. Afterall this is the argument used for schools.

Have you been in state schools lately? Are many living the high life there, even in the gold ones?

It didn’t. It was always two miles to the nearest secondary or one mile to the nearest primary by the shortest, safest, walking route.

No need for your numerous personal attacks in the thread because you resent paying for a number of your own choices.

Good for you. Your contributions on this thread are odd. I don't know what point you think you're making but it's not working.

Why wouldn’t I want to hear about that?

No, it was at the Local Authority's discretion what they funded. Hence why people on this thread are recalling their own lived experience of having their bus travel funded as a child. Unless of course you are calling them all liars?

Bus fares have risen significantly above inflation. Again another fact you won't like.

The home must cost the same as what the council normally expects to pay for someone with your level of need.

Why should some children who have parents responsible for them have more spent on transport by the state when it’s chosen by parents?

You’re just being ridiculous now

Everyone in Scotland gets them free.

No. The less children on buses the better. They are feral in the North East

We absolutely should keep prescriptions at 60.Over 50 your likelihood of needing all sorts of prescriptions rises, particularly for women. Many at 60 are supporting kids at uni etc and will cut back on prescriptions they should be taking. I’ve done this and had nurses telling me they feel 60 is too high and it should be lower - not higher.

Neither are any of your points.

Nope.

Every penny is not taken off someone needing care - this applies to everyone, not just or diners. There are capital thresholds - £23,250 to be precise. If your capitol is more than this figure you pay for all of your care until it drops below this threshold

I suggest you do your research before spouting nonsense.

Also, they do get a choice when social care is part of full funding.

They should all have CCTV linked to schools and the poorly behaved and bullies should be booted off permanently after 2 chances.

What don’t I like? I’m talking about school transport in Scotland btw. I was also head of that!

Why are you obsessed with parents? Who is the direct beneficiary of all of this, the child of the parent? You act as though children don't exist as their own entities until they turn 18. It's ridiculous!

People choose things all the time that have additional cost for the state. Every time a pensioner chooses to use their bus pass they are costing the state money. Not everyone is using it when they absolutely need to. Lots of old people choose hospitals, doctors or dentists that are further away than their local provision because they think it's better. Should we make them pay for their bus journey there or force them to choose their most local one?

But they don’t get a higher budget if they choose to go somewhere out of catchment.