North Lanarkshire Council and SPT admit they 'can't say' when school buses will return to normal

Children from a number of routes were left without bus transport for the first day of term on Wednesday and many routes will also have no service on Friday.

And neither the council or transport contractors could offer a timeline for school transport to return to normal when contacted by the Glasgow Times.

Services were cancelled after the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport was unable to provide buses when a number of contracted firms dropped out.

The organisation said that reasons given included driver availability and pressures related to inflation, such as the rise in the cost of fuel.

North Lanarkshire Council said it could not provide a timeframe for services to return to normal, as it was the responsibility of SPT to arrange transport, but that parents and carers were being kept informed as soon as information was received from the transport body.

North Lanarkshire Council HQ

On Wednesday the council said it was "examining other options as quickly as possible", and it's understood these include using a small fleet of council-owned vehicles to transport those with additional support needs, including the potential of doing double runs, while the focus remains on SPT putting in place the remaining contracts.

A council spokesperson said: "It is Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s responsibility to arrange contracts for school transport and we are updating parents and carers daily with information provided by them as soon as we receive it.

“SPT has publicly issued an apology for this wholly unacceptable situation during the first week of the return to school.

"While SPT has apologised, the most important thing for parents and young people is that transport is available as quickly as possible. SPT must resolve this as quickly as possible. We will continue to update parents via text message, email and on the council website."

Asked when a full timetable would be in place, a spokesperson for SPT said: “There is simply not enough supply of drivers and available contractors in the market place.

“Our schools team is working hard to find transport on a temporary emergency basis for mainstream school pupils affected, and investigating all options.

“We are working to get emergency contracts in place as quickly as possible and will update councils and schools as soon as we are able.”

Read more: Pupils in North Lanarkshire face being stuck without school transport for the second day in a row

Taxi services for pupils with additional support needs, which is not the responsibility of SPT, have also been cut back, with several contractors withdrawing due to a lack of drivers.

A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council, which contracts out the service, said: "Almost all contracts to provide transport for children and young people with additional support needs have been allocated.

“We are working on the remaining contracts and the families affected have been contacted by email and text and by close of play today (Thursday), all will have received a telephone call from the education team to discuss specific individual needs and potential options."

It comes after Airdrie & Shotts MSP Neil Gray wrote to both bodies to brand the situation “absolutely deplorable”.

The Scottish Government minister for culture, europe and international development stated that his email and voicemail had been inundated with complaints from constituents.

Gray wrote: “To give families less than 24-hours' notice of a temporary withdrawal of school transport is absolutely deplorable.

“Many of my constituents rely on this to ensure their children can arrive at school safely while enabling them to get to work promptly. Children at ASN schools need to know their driver so that they feel safe and secure with them, not just be allocated and anyone available.

“This needs to come to an end quickly and must not be allowed to happen again."