MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council - which will be taking free bus passes from some 300 children in September - says it isn’t planning any changes to its next home to school transport policy.

The authority agreed last year to bring its policy into line with Welsh Government guidance meaning free bus travel would only be offered to secondary school pupils who live three miles or more from their school and two miles for primary pupils.

The council’s current offer is more generous with free travel for pupils who live 1.5 miles or more from their primary and two miles from their secondary school.

The changes for the school year starting in September 2025 have been confirmed by the county council which said providing free transport to pupils who live below the Welsh Government’s statutory distances was becoming unaffordable due to rising demand and operator costs.

The council’s Labour leader Mary Ann Brocklesby said as a result the council has protected funding for schools.

The Llanelly Hill councillor said:“By reverting to the statutory distances, we’ve been able to redirect this money into our schools to support education for all our learners.... In truth, if we had the funding, we wouldn’t have done this... it is a result of a sustained period of underfunding for our public services.”

At the most recent meeting of the full council Shirenewton Conservative Louise Brown asked if the policy, that has to be reviewed every year, has been delayed as no proposals for the 2026/27 policy are included in a list of forthcoming decisions.

Cllr Laura Wrights,cabinet member for education, said the Welsh Government is due to consult on guidance on “learner travel” and as a result Monmouthshire won’t make any changes to its policy for 2026/27 until the review is complete.