Last minute changes to school transport have caused chaos at the start of the new term for pupils in Powys.

Powys County Council has been criticised for poor communication about the changes, that sees some routes stopped.

On Friday afternoon, it was announced on the Powys County Council transport social media pages that certain routes for school buses would cease from the following Monday - the first day of the spring term - in a bid to ‘optimise’ school transport in the county.

Despite reassuring parents of affected children that they would be contacted with full details of the changes, large numbers of parents have reported that they have received no correspondence from the council.

The council has apologised for the issues but believe the changes are necessary to: “reduce the number of vehicles and carbon emissions and unnecessary spend.”

Stories have since emerged of a chaotic and confusing first week of term for many parents and pupils.

Several parents vented their frustrations on social media, saying that their children were simply not picked up from their usual stops, as they were unaware that the route had been changed.

One parent, whose daughter attends Brecon High School, said her child was left waiting on the pavement for a bus that never came.

The mother-of-two, who asked not to be named, then had to take her daughter to school by car when she returned home.

She told the Brecon & Radnor Express: “How can we be expected to make arrangements for our children when we’re not told what’s going on? It was last minute to start with, never mind when some of us haven’t been told at all.

“I’ve tried contacting the council but had nothing in response - this a serious issue and it’s been handled so badly.

"Children are being left on the roadside."

Further concerns have been raised that the changes to the routes will force many children to get two buses, resulting in waits on the side of the road for a considerable time before getting a second bus to Brecon.

Many parents are also concerned that children having to leave home much earlier than usual, and then waiting for a significant period for their next bus, with waiting times for a connection reaching 40 minutes.

In an email to the Powys Council Cabinet about the situation, MS for Brecon and Radnorshire James Evans asked “as a matter of urgency, I ask that you communicate with all parents affected so that they are aware of the operational changes to their bus routes.”

He added: “I would like to see sight of the risk assessments carried out by Officers that support children as young as age 11 being left at the side of the road, waiting for 30+ minutes with no shelter from the weather and unsupervised.”

Mr Evans told the Brecon & Radnor Express: “I am concerned about the way this whole thing has been handled. Parents haven’t been informed properly and it has been botched from top to bottom.

“The changes aren’t good for children – they shouldn’t have to wait an age for connecting buses to or from school, and there are serious questions about their safety when they are waiting.

“I have demanded answers from the Council, and they need to get on top of this immediately. Parents need to feel comfortable sending their children to school on public transport, and these wait times and safety issues are unacceptable.”

Cllr Iain McIntosh (Yscir with Honddu Isaf and Llanddew) was contacted by parents from him ward over the weekend and on Monday morning, who were concerned about the changes.

The councillor contacted Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys Cllr Jackie Charlton on Saturday with these concerns, who had said she was unaware of the situation.

Cllr McIntosh said: “‘I am surprised to find out the Council made a decision to change school transport provision without notifying parents and that the Cabinet member responsible for this, Cllr Jackie Charlton, claims she knew nothing about it.

“Clearly, the authority in in utter chaos since the introduction of the new Labour and Liberal Democrat administration in May, which has resulted in children being left by the side of the road as their parents weren’t informed about different bus times.

“I am very concerned that some children are expected to spend over 3 hours travelling to school and back every day, and that some will have to wait between busses in uncovered exposed areas.

“I have written to the Council insisting they restore the service back to normal and that any future decision is accompanied with a suitable impact assessment and taken through the appropriate scrutiny channels prior to introduction. Our children deserve better than this.”

Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys has today apologised for problems and confusion caused by the change in timetables, adding that “adjustments” will be made where necessary.

She also said that extra staff members have been drafted in to deal with the influx of calls and emails from people requiring assistance.

Cllr Charlton said: “Over the past few months Powys County Council have been working hard, along with bus companies and our schools, to make operational changes to optimise home-to-school transport arrangements across the county. This is in a bid to reduce the number of vehicles on the road to reduce carbon emissions and unnecessary spend

“It is of course right that we keep our transport arrangements under constant review to make sure that they are as cost effective as possible. Not only does this make financial sense but it is vitally important from a climate emergency perspective that we only operate the routes that we absolutely need to.

“The series of new or revised routes were introduced this week. All pupils using the free home-to-school transport service will continue to have a designated route to and from school.

“Whilst the majority of these changes were implemented without any issues, there have been a number of problems in certain areas, for which we can only apologise. Our main concern now is to regularise the service for parents and pupils and apologise to those who have been directly affected.

“A lack of effective communication with parents/carers has caused confusion, with some pupils uncertain of their new timetables. We take the matter very seriously indeed and where communications have failed, I will ask that the team put measures in place to learn from this experience and ensure that this does not happen again.

“In the meantime, we have drafted in extra members of staff to help answer calls and emails from those requiring more information on the changes to their home-to-school transport arrangements as quickly as we can. We are also keeping schools informed too.

“Where parents have raised specific concerns over safety and timing of school buses, we will revisit our timetables and make adjustments where necessary. Our main concern now is to regularise the service for parents and pupils and apologise to those who have been affected.

“For context, Powys is the largest, most rural local authority in Wales, and we transport around 4,500 learners to school on around 230 school buses, from around 2,500 pick-up and drop off locations. We do this using local bus providers as well as supporting the transport system across Powys.”