I’d like to respond to the Echo article ‘School bus chaos’ on September 8.

Dorset County Council is committed to supporting young people across Dorset as much as possible and continues to run a concessionary scheme, which gives families not entitled to free school transport the opportunity to purchase spare seats on contracted coaches.

We have a duty to provide value for money to the taxpayer in this difficult financial climate and, in the face of soaring transport costs and the need to make savings, have changed our concessionary scheme.

The cost of an annual pass is now £400 (£2.10 a day) and brings us in line with other local authorities.

Even though the increase in charges better reflects the cost of providing school transport, it still does not cover it in full.

We’ve also reduced the number of concessionary seats by around 50 per cent and applications were prioritised against criteria, taking into account factors such as disability, special educational needs and medical conditions. Those who were not offered a seat have been placed on a waiting list.

We have had to hold back a small number of seats for last minute applications from families whose children are entitled to free school transport.

If we did not do this, we would not be fulfilling our legal duty.

In no way are we are trying to ‘rip off’ parents. Our concessionary scheme is designed to give them an alternative option when they are considering how to get their child to school. In the vast majority of cases, it offers a cheaper deal than public bus services.

Parents are welcome to explore alternative travel with other public transport providers in their area to try and find a better deal.

Toni Coombs

Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for Children’s Services