Remember that the council hadn’t started to work out how much it would cost to transfer children from home to the new locations of schools – after they shut many local schools?
Well, they’ve finally had their calculators out and totted up the costs.
The papers reveal that they think it will cost an additional £400,000 to transfer children from their homes to the new, more remote schools. (item 55 on page B-12)
It’s not explicit, but we would imagine that this extra expenditure will be repeated yearly.
This is money that doesn’t need to be spent if the schools remain open.
Where’s the £400,000 coming from?
In the words of the officers …
The funding to be achieved by the re-direction of budget resources released within the Directorate of Children and Young People by service re-structuring to meet the needs of the new school system
ie. They are taking from money that was originally going to be spent on services for children – to move it to money spent to transport.
Extra CO2 too
It’s worth noting that laying on this extra transport will generate additional CO2 emissions that were also not previously needed.
Some parents will decide not to send their young children on the council provided buses, so will drive their children to school – generating even more additional CO2.
Why is the Isle of Wight Council, which professes to be grasping the banner of Eco-Island, making moves to generate all of this additional CO2?
Image: Bill Ward
