Today I met with the Stagecoach Managing Director, Devon County Council, and Sir Geoffrey Cox to discuss the impact of recent fare increases and service changes on schoolchildren in our constituencies.
With Devon County Council still lacking a clear indication of how much funding they will receive from central government, and current funding scheduled to run out in March 2026, there is a huge amount of uncertainty, making it very challenging to subsidise school and post-16 travel. The Government must provide this clarity, and I will be raising this with Ministers to press for answers.
Alongside this, we also spoke about what role the schools can play in subsidising travel. I will be writing to the schools affected to ask how many students are impacted so this information can be passed on to the Council to help them understand what funding may be available. This will also help identify what more schools themselves might be able to do to support families with the higher costs.
I know these fare increases are putting real pressure on households, especially for young people travelling to school or college. I will continue to press both Stagecoach and Devon County Council for fairer, more affordable travel, and I’ll share any news as soon as I have it
