A U-turn on parking fee increases by North Yorkshire Council has prompted campaigners to question why no changes have been made to the authority’s controversial home-to-school transport policy.
Campaign group the School Transport Action Group (STAG) says the decision to pause plans announced last week to ‘rebalance’ parking fees in council-owned car parks will cost around £1.7m a year.
But STAG, which was formed by parents and opposition parties to fight the policy change to limit free school transport to a child’s nearest school, is forecast to save only around £550,000 a year.
A spokesperson added: “When residents and opposition councillors called for the home-to-school transport policy to be paused so that a proper assessment of its impact could be carried out, council leaders insisted it could not be halted because doing so would leave a hole in the budget.
“Yet when public backlash hit the parking charge proposals this week, Conservative group councillors jumped to attention and the executive pulled the plug just weeks before implementation — leaving a £1.663m shortfall against the income assumed in the medium term financial strategy, more than three times the £553,000 anticipated in 2026/27 from the home to school transport policy changes.”
The group claimed that the change of heart over parking fees “showed that when pressure mounts within Conservative ranks, financial arguments quickly take a back seat”.
The spokesperson added: “What is striking is that councillors from the controlling group who condemned the parking charge proposals as ‘foolish, ill-thought-out and half-baked’ have been notably silent on the equally ill-considered cuts to school buses.
“Councillors reacted swiftly to objections over parking increases, yet remain tone-deaf to concerns raised by parents of rural children.
“If financial constraints can be set aside when parking charges prove unpopular, why are they treated as untouchable when rural children’s access to school is at stake?”
In response, North Yorkshire Council deputy leader, Gareth Dadd, executive member for finance and resources, said: “Yet again, STAG have got the figures wrong.
“This (home-to-school transport policy) will grow into upwards of £4m recurring savings, not £500,000, and quite frankly, I’ve wasted enough time trying to explain this to some members.
“In terms of conflating it with car parking issues, we will still have to generate income and cut expenditure, whichever way you look at it. STAG are a special interest group and ought to recognise the financial situation that this authority is in and will continue to be in.”
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