Parents hire barrister to fight Llanfyllin school bus decision
A barrister has been instructed to fight on behalf of parents tied up in a row over subsidised bus travel.
Parents of children at Llanfyllin High School have enlisted a barrister to fight Powys County Council's decision to ban subsidised bus travel for out-of-catchment pupils.
The Friends of Llanfyllin High School held a meeting this week when parents were told that there were several strong grounds on which the group could challenge the council's decision.
A campaign fund has also been set up to pay for legal representation and supporters of the school are also being urged to sign a petition.
Dave Weston, a member of the friends group, said that the meeting agreed that Llanfyllin High School was a "very successful" secondary and sixth form school offering education in Welsh and English.
"It draws in pupils from near and far because it is so good. But an obscure regulation on the funding of school buses is causing serious trouble.
"This affects all pupils at Llanfyllin High School, Welsh and English alike, out-of-catchment and within-catchment."
Mr Weston said: "We have instructed a barrister of our own to initiate a legal challenge to the decision of PCC.
"Tools we can now consider include a group action against Powys County Council, an injunction to halt their harmful enforced immediate compliance to regulation 5.2, and a judicial review.
"Pupils, part-way through their academic career or even their GCSEs and A levels, are faced with sudden, unexpected and large increases in their transport to school costs.
"There are many stories of hardship where it is clear that Powys CC have not considered one little bit the harm to children and their education by their policy. Parents are faced with the choice of moving their child or having large bills."
