Andrew George MP said he has contacted both the Education Secretary and senior council officers to address the short-notice withdrawal of a vital school bus in Cornwall.

The newly elected MP for West Cornwall said he has contacted both the Education Secretary, Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson, and senior officers of Cornwall Council following First South West’s decision to withdraw the MUL104 bus service from Rosudgeon to Mullion School (via Porthleven and Helston). 

Mr George who was born and raised in Mullion and was educated at Helston Grammar/Comprehensive School said he has also reached out to the CEO of the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust, which runs Mullion School.

“I have already communicated with the CEO of the Academy Trust, Dr Jen Blunden, which is in support of the reinstatement of the bus (even though the bus takes students from the catchment area of one of the schools in its trust to another,” Mr George told the Packet.

“I have explained to Ms Phillipson and council officers that this is fundamental to not only the provision of parental choice, but of helping students who find for example that smaller scale schools like Mullion are better to cater for their needs and can provide a different ethos to support their learning experience.”

Mr George has also requested that council officers work with departmental officials and transport operators to seek a solution in time for the new term in just over three weeks.

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Parents have said they were at a loss and felt ‘totally abandoned’ after being told at the end of term that their child’s transport would no longer be available from September.

The move affects around 60 students, who had each been paying £22 per week up until the end of the summer term.

However, Cornwall Council has stressed that it was not involved in the commissioning of the service and described it as “entirely the responsibility of Truro and Penwith Academy Trust”, which runs Mullion School.

Chris Pickles, director of operations for Truro and Penwith Academy Trust told the Packet: “The MUL104 was a commercial service responding to needs of families outside the Mullion School catchment area, directly funded through parental contribution. 

“The commercial provider notified the school that, due to surging costs, this service would be removed at the end of the year.

“Committed to supporting parental choice we worked hard to ascertain if alternate cost-effective options were viable including hybrid solutions, network timetable alignment and increases to service capacity. 

“We remain willing to work with stakeholders; however, noting the reality of the commercial environment and limitations on public network capacity, informed parents of the loss of service at the end of term.”