I am very sad that one of North Yorkshire’s bus operators, Stephensons of Easingwold, has gone into liquidation and will therefore not be able to deliver its schools contracts or services across Hambleton and Ryedale from today, Monday January 22nd. I will do everything I can to help ensure that alternative temporary arrangements are put in place so that all pupils can get to school this week and others, who rely on these bus services to get to work or their hospital appointments, are still able to do so. North Yorkshire County Council has been working over the weekend to ensure that alternative provision is made from Monday for the 900 pupils who are entitled to free home to school transport and I will help make sure that long term arrangements are found. Meanwhile, parents of schoolchildren who are not entitled to use the services free of charge, but who use them on a commercial basis, will have to find alternative arrangements until new provision is found. I hope that other bus operators will pick up some of the commercial routes previously operated by Stephensons so that disruption for everyone using the bus services is kept to a minimum.
I am very disappointed that Stephensons, which is a long established local company, has gone out of business and I am sorry for all those who may lose their jobs as a result. You can find out more about the alternative arrangements for bus services in North Yorkshire here: www.northyorks.gov.uk