County Council asks Mayor to 'think again' and extend free travel for all of Derbyshire's young people

Senior councillors at Derbyshire County Council have written to Mayor Ward at the East Midlands Combined County Authority asking her to think again on her plans to offer free travel to young people just from the High Peak who attend further education in Manchester.

Mayor Ward is proposing to only offer free travel for 16 to 18 year olds who live in the High Peak and travel across the county border for further education in Manchester. The current plan is not to extend it to other young people in Derbyshire who travel to education or training either within our county or out of the county in other places, for example into Derby or to college in Nottinghamshire.

Derbyshire County Council’s Leader, Councillor Barry Lewis, said: “We are supportive of the aims behind offering free travel for young people to get to education, training or apprenticeships, but only offering this to students who live in the High Peak is unfair to other young people in the county.

“We believe that this offer should extend equally to all of Derbyshire’s young people, including all of our district and borough areas rather than just one. So, we’re pushing for the  Combined Authority to fund a free bus pass for all 16 to 18 year olds in our county, and region.”

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport, added: “We want to encourage young people to use the bus and to support young people to access education, training and employment across and within our county. 

“The Mayor’s current proposals are also unfair to other students even within the High Peak, and maybe even live on the same street, as those who choose to study for instance at Buxton College who would not receive the same support. 

“A scheme like this across our county would also help to support our bus network and future sustainability and help contribute towards our net zero targets.”

Councillor Lewis added: “As representatives for all of Derbyshire and all of our young people, we are asking Mayor Ward to consider funding a scheme for the whole of Derbyshire, and indeed the wider Mayoral region, to ensure all young people have equal opportunities in our area, rather than based on a postcode lottery of where you live in our county. 

“We already have our successful b-line scheme for young people in Derbyshire, which has recently been boosted by our Bus Service Improvement Plan, providing discounted travel, so it would seem most productive for the Combined Authority to fund an extension and additions to this.”

View the open letter by clicking here.