PETITION

Herefordshire Council has begun offering free transport for children to schools in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire, while stopping free transport to its own catchment schools.

As a result, a Herefordshire child living close to the county border won’t receive equal access to Herefordshire schools, when compared with other children in the county.

This amounts to the inequitable treatment of children, whereas all residents of Herefordshire should be given equal access to services in Herefordshire. Communities along the Herefordshire border must not be discriminated against simply because of their geographical location.

We call on Herefordshire Council to offer all its residents equal access to Herefordshire services regardless of where they live. In this instance it must amend its new policy, ending free transport to schools outside the county and reinstating the free service to Herefordshire schools for eligible children.