Commissioner for Children and Young People Speaks Out

The recent article on the East Renfrewshire Council website and Evening Times article would suggest that Kathleen Marshall dismissed parent's concerns and even supported the decision to end free buses for Primary School Children living less than 3 miles from schools.

This is what she had to say herself about the recent decision in a letter to the Evening Times:

“I was disappointed to read the way in which my assessment of the school bus issue in East Renfrewshire was presented. I have not “backed” the Council. There are some decisions that fall within the discretion of the Council as the democratically elected body for that area. My role is not to usurp that function, but to highlight situations in which children’s rights under national and international law have been breached. From the information given to me, it did not seem to have been the case here. That does not mean that this is the best possible decision, nor that I approve of it. I have merely recognised that it is their right to make it. Parents and other concerned persons in the community have every right to pursue the matter further with their elected representatives if they feel the Council have made the wrong decision.” - Published with kind permission of Kathleen Marshall