Kent Freedon Pass 16+ 38 Degrees Petition

Really pleased to see that there is a 38 degrees petition for 16 to 19 year olds to have access to the Freedom Pass for buses in Kent. 17 and 18 yr olds will soon not be allowed to leave school, so why should they lose access to cheaper travel that they had at 16?

This is from 38 degrees:

As the school leaving age is being extended to 18, please can the Bus Freedom Pass also be extended to

cover from 16 to 18 (19 would better) so that parents do not have to pay through the nose to get their child to school?

Why is this important?

This campaign is really important now more than ever since the Government is in the process of raising the school leaving age to 18. From September you will have to stay in school till 17 which in practice means that students will need to stay on the full two years to complete the courses they start. With so few jobs available young people need to stay in school yet with transport, the costs of this are really high for families.

When you speak to the Kent County Council you will be told that the school leaving age is 16 and therefore the Council are not obliged to extend the Freedom Pass beyond this age especially with the Government cuts already made. I was informed that I could pay £520 for bus transport which is equivalent to £10 per week to get my son to school.

I did make an appeal to my local council when my daughter first left school to study further education and as I was told that the council were looking into extending the Freedom Pass as the school age was being extended. That was two years ago and I am still waiting and now I have a son who is just about to leave school and needs transport to get there.

The Freedom Pass in my area costs £100 a saving of £420 so I would be very grateful for everyone's support to take this campaign further and get help for all parents that have children leaving school this year and going on to further education and would like to still benefit from the Freedom Pass.