Andy Burnham to give homeless kids school bus passes

Andy Burnham has committed to giving 8,000 homeless children in temporary accommodation free school travel in a win for Manchester Evening News and Roch Valley Radio readers.

After six months of campaigning, the mayor has announced his office will pay for free bus travel to and from school for children placed in temporary accommodation from later this year, a huge step forward for the lives of Greater Manchester’s 8,000 children in temporary housing.

Under current government transport rules, youngsters are only eligible for free travel if they live more than two miles from class (three miles for over-8s) and no ‘suitable school’ is nearer. But it’s almost-impossible to be further than two miles from a school in the city.

That presents homeless families in desperate circumstances a horrible choice: Pay for buses they didn’t need to before, or move a child away from a support network when they need it most.

It’s a choice schools hit out at. It’s a choice the M.E.N. and Roch Valley Radio believes homeless families shouldn’t need to consider.

Now, it’s a choice they don’t have to make.

After three major charities, eight Greater Manchester MPs, and hundreds of residents got behind the initiative, Burnham confirmed on Thursday, February 5, free Bee Network bus travel to-and-from school will be available for children from later this year.

He said: “I commend the M.E.N. and Roch Valley Radio for highlighting the issue and am glad we can do something about it.

“Temporary accommodation is a symptom of wider housing and inequality issues up and down the country.

“We’re pioneering a new approach in Greater Manchester. It’s amongst the most ambitious in the UK and we are working hard to reduce homelessness, with better support, early intervention and, critically, more high-quality, affordable homes. Part of that is reducing the need for families to be in temporary accommodation.

“Using our locally-controlled Bee Network buses to support families when they need it most is the right thing to do. A move into temporary accommodation is often a massive upheaval for families and can be a worrying time. 

“With this measure, the cost of travel to school will be one less thing for families to worry about. It will mean parents and carers don’t have to choose between an extra demand on their household budget and keeping their children with friends and teachers they know and trust.”

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed money is set aside for the scheme in its budget that is ready to be approved next week.

Should it get the green light as expected, TfGM said it will work with the region’s 10 councils to finalise details on eligibility and implement it ‘later this year’.

While an exact date for implementation has not been given, if the programme is in place for the new academic year, it will mean the campaign has gone from dream to reality in a year.

After the M.E.N. and Roch Valley Radio learned schools were frustrated with the current transport rules, with some even in a bizarre situation where they would use grant funding from the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity to buy Bee Network bus passes for their homeless children, we decided to step in.

Formally launching the campaign and petition on August 10, high-profile Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey came out in support of the move a day later, saying: “These children need stability. They need access to their school, their teachers, their friends. A free bus pass is a small step that would make a big difference.”

By the end of that week, momentum began to build. Hundreds of people signed our petition, three charities, Wood Street Mission, Shared Health, and Resolve Poverty, supported the move, as did another MP, Christian Wakeford.

Pressure really ramped up by the August bank holiday weekend, as more MPs followed suit, namely Yasmin Qureshi, Afzal Khan, Lisa Smart, and Tom Morison, who revealed he’d been homeless himself as a child.

Graham Stringer echoed the calls on August 26, so by the time the mayor made his first public appearance of the autumn, he couldn’t ignore the issue.

“These are kids, who I guess will feel a bit forgotten,” Burnham said on September 1. “What I can say today is we’re going to look carefully at it to see if we can do it. But I’m personally sympathetic to what the M.E.N. and Roch Valley Radio is saying. I think the vast majority of people in Greater Manchester would be as well.”

While the mayor took away the proposals, new data emerged in October suggesting 5,397 children in temporary accommodation in Greater Manchester could benefit from reform. Updated estimates later revised this to around 8,000.

Another MP, Debbie Abrahams, came out in support of the move following the autumn reshuffle, being the eighth to do so in early December. Around the same time, the mayor revealed for the first time the plans were being seriously examined.

He said on December 3: “What might open the door is we are moving to a more interventionist space as a combined authority when we signed off using 400 empty properties to reduce the bill in temporary accommodation. We are looking at all of it. I am sympathetic.” 

In early January, the stark reality of what homeless families face was brought sharply into focus when two mums shared their stories.

Tosin Balogun’s account of what it was like commuting 65 minutes from Stretford to Harpurhey, twice every day, reminded leaders what these 8,000 children might be going through.

Then, Fatou Tall revealed how her two daughters are growing up on the 409 and 81 buses. And it was showing.

“Bousso always comes back with a headache. She’s doing her GCSEs, and she goes in early and comes back at 6pm or 6:30 pm,” she said. 

“She’s out of the house for more than 12 hours and she has to have a 30 minute rest before doing any of her homework. She and Nabou are exhausted.”

She came out and said the burden should be lifted: “If kids have free bus passes, it will help a lot. On top of the burden of moving into temporary accommodation it will take one issue off your mind.”

In late January, more support came when the Green Party proposed Manchester council formally back the campaign, and when ruling Labour councillors got behind it, they agreed to write directly to the mayor urging him to act.

Hours after the vote, Burnham said the ‘case was clear’ change was needed, sparking an anxious few days’ wait to see if money would be set aside in the new budget.

On Thursday (February 5), Greater Manchester got its answer: There is.

That’s a victory for the council, three charities, eight MPs, and hundreds of M.E.N. and Roch Valley Radio readers. But most importantly, it’s a win for 8,000 children