We currently provide a passenger assistant on each of the home to school transport routes which serve Langwathby Church of England (C of E) Primary School.
The routes are:
- T1252 serving Gamblesby, Melmerby and Ousby
- T1255 serving Glassonby, Hunsonby, Little Salkeld and Winskill
Our proposal
We're proposing remove the passenger assistants from the Langwathby home to school transport routes. This would begin at the start of the 2026/27 academic year.
Read our consultation document for further details about the proposal (PDF , 298KB).
The consultation document also includes:
- background information
- our rationale for making the proposal
- a timetable for the consultation
- a copy of the consultation questionnaire
Our consultation
We ran a consultation on our proposal from late September 2025 until 28 November 2025. The consultation was due to end on 28 October, but we extended this so that we could review all feedback and respond to queries.
The consultation was open to:
- parents and carers
- staff and governors of Langwathby C of E Primary School
- anyone else with an interest, or stake in, home to school transport arrangements serving the school
Feedback
We invited people to have their say by:
- completing an an online questionnaire
- contacting us by email
- collecting a paper form from the school and returning it by to post (or in person) to us, or the school
- printing the form at the end of the consultation document and sending it by to post (or in person) to us, or the school
Meetings
We held two drop in sessions to answer questions:
- 7 October 2025, at Langwathby C of E Primary School. This session was for the school governors
- 16 October 2025, between 4pm at 6.30pm at Langwathby Village Hall. We ran this session for parents and other stakeholders
Outcome
The passenger assistants will be withdrawn from the T1252 and T1255 routes. This will be from the end of term in July 2027, when the current contract ends, and will allow a transition period. The routes will be re-procured from September 2027 without passenger assistants.
Langwathby School Transport consultation feedback report (PDF , 358KB)
In reaching the decision, we reviewed:
- the two routes serving Langwathby primary school, currently with passenger assistants
- the consultation responses
- similar mainstream routes in geography and journey length carrying primary school age children with no passenger assistants
- historical information provided by the community
- feedback from other primary schools in Westmorland and Furness with no passenger assistants
- feedback from other local authorities
There is no evidence to suggest that the routes are more geographically isolated and challenging than others in the council area.
There is no statutory requirement to provide passenger assistants on mainstream routes. Their current provision on the Langwathby routes creates an inequity with other areas of Westmorland and Furness.
The Council is committed to working with parents, the transport operator and school personnel to ensure there is a planned, phased transition ahead of the change in September 2027.