Nearly £80 million spent on taxis for pupils

Nearly £80 million has been spent by councils in Wales to transport pupils to schools in taxis, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have revealed.

Peter Black AM believes that the Wales Audit Office should investigate whether the current system is delivering the best value for money.

Freedom of Information responses reveal that since 2012, over £79,000,000 has been spent on taxis transporting pupils to and from schools in Wales.

Swansea had the highest spend on taxis with the council spending £11.3m since 2012.  Rhondda Cynon Taff had the second highest total, with a spend of £9.2m since 2011/12.

Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Local Government, said:

“£79 million is an eye-watering amount of money. 

“I would expect local councils to be reviewing this expenditure to see if there are more efficient and effective ways of delivering the service, such as using the council’s own vehicles in some instances, combining contracts, and staggering school start and finish times.

“I believe a study by the Wales Audit Office of all 22 councils would be able to identify best practice and help with this process.

“A high proportion of this taxi money is spent to help pupils who have particular learning difficulties and that is entirely right.  However, it’s clear these figure go beyond that.

“Of course councils need to make sure that all pupils are able to get to school, but tax-payers need to know that we are getting the best value for money.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe in delivering the best possible service at the lowest possible cost.  This must also be delivered in a transparent way, so people know where their taxes are being spent.  Too often this hasn’t been a practice carried through by local councils or the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay.”