TWO mums will rally around their MP to try overturning the "ridiculous" price hike in post-16 school transport in Essex.
Maria Herbert and Sandra Colledge, of Great Leighs, have been plunged into dire straits after learning it will cost them £900 each a year to get their teens to a sixth form college by bus.
Essex County Council has increased the annual sum by nearly a third from £623 for the 2014/15 academic year, and ruled that low-income families must fork out £450 when they previously paid nothing.
The costs are at least double the prices of surrounding counties, where families can get away with paying as little as £206 for the service – or even free of charge.
Miss Colledge, 41, of Beadle Way, whose 16-year-old daughter will start sixth form at Chelmer Valley High School in September, says she may have to borrow the money from her mother to foot the bill.
"It's a big shock," said the mother-of-three. "I thought I would get more help to be honest and I really feel let down. I'll have to borrow it off my mum but then I'll have to pay for the year after as well and I don't want to just keep on borrowing.
"I just don't know what to do now – I thought you could get student rates."
Similarly 46-year-old Mrs Herbert, also a mother-of-three of Beadle Way, will have to foot the bill when her 15-year-old daughter finishes her GCSEs next year.
Their children, while 16-years-old or younger, catch a dedicated and free-of-charge bus from nearby Main Road each morning to their catchment school Chelmer Valley.
The two claim parents have not been pro-actively informed by the council of the price rise.
"It is cheaper for us to drive our youngsters there and back which means more cars on the road and more traffic congestion," said Mrs Herbert.
"It's also a very big setback and there is no way either I or my friend can afford it. She's been offered to pay in instalments but that will cost £1,560 for the year. Either way she has three months to find some money."
The mums have also accused central government of hypocrisy, for while school transport fees may be deterring parents, as of 2013 all teens must stay in full-time education or work-based training until 18 if born after August 31, 1997.
"We would like to meet our MP and do something as all the other counties around us can offer at least half the price," said Mrs Herbert. "You feel like saying to the Government – you are keeping our kids on at school until they're 18 but are not providing funding. Why?"
The Conservative-run county council voted in a 2014/15 budget back in February for the price hike.
The tweak sparked debate in County Hall, with Lib Dem group leader Mike Mackrory proposing an extra £750,000 be found to fund the service.
The current cost means for a bus pass the council now subsidises just £95 a year per student, out of the annual cost of £995 First Buses charges.
At the same meeting county council leader David Finch said the authority had "started the process" of consulting the public on subsidised bus services and had changed the rules on free Home to School Transport to bring "us into line with most other local authorities".
Parent Alison Bone has two children in further education and must now pay the £900 for her daughter to travel to Braintree
"First Essex charges £995 for a year pass, so this is only a small saving, and means the level of subsidy has dropped hugely. Our income exceeds the cut-off for entitlement to a free pass, but this is still a ridiculously large increase," she said. "How can the council justify it?"
Speaking to the Chronicle MP for Great Leighs Sir Alan Haselhurst said the service may be more expensive in Essex as it is a bigger and more populated county than most of its neighbours. "I can understand why it's thought of as a lot of money across not just my constituency but across this very large county," said Sir Alan. "It is difficult in a rural area, it really is."
