Potton mum claims college bus company 'discriminating' against poorer families during Cost of Living Crisis

An angry mum has claimed that a college bus company is "discriminating" against poorer families during the Cost of Living Crisis.

Carli Callander, whose son attends Bassingbourn Village College, told the Chronicle that many families used to transfer a monthly payment to Cozy Travel Ltd (Cozys).

But now the company only allows for yearly or termly payments - guaranteeing students a seat - while those who cannot afford this are left to pay for weekly or daily passes, which do not guarantee a space.

Cozys says the move to a web and app based system that lets parents and students track the buses has prompted the change.

It added the option for monthly installments is controlled by the system provider, and is out of its hands.

Carli, from Potton, said: "Last year I got my son a yearly pass and paid £77 a month. This worked perfectly, as we could budget.

"But on August 5, the school told us that the bus company is changing the way it issues tickets.

"There was only a few week's notice to find the money for the year or term. But the cost of living crisis has hit everyone hard."

She added: "There are lots of people that have been struggling to get tickets for their children and some are having to drive their children in."

Carli claimed she has contacted the company several times to raise the issue, and that one Cozys representative was rude and left her "shaken".

She said: "You can only purchase the weekly passes on a Sunday evening after 4pm and it's a first come first served rush.

"Meanwhile, Bassingbourn Village College has wiped their hands of any responsibility."

Central Bedfordshire Councillor, Adam Zerny, said: "It is not appropriate to force parents to pay yearly payments in advance and in extreme circumstances will force families to make very difficult financial decisions."

A Cozys spokesman said: "We are not aware of any capacity issues with the vehicles indeed one of the buses operating from Potton still has 50% seating capacity available therefore all students, irrespective of ticket type should be able to get a seat for the duration of their journey to and from Bassingbourn Village College.

“Cozys have always worked to be as flexible and accommodating as it can be for the college, parents and students. We feel the benefits of the new ticketing system with its additional safe guarding features provides parents with added peace of mind and overall feedback has been positive.

“Unfortunately, for reasons entirely outside of our control we are no longer able to offer the discretionary instalment payment plan although this should have no impact upon any student being able to use our service.”

The bus passes are now a live QR Code, which is scanned when the child boards the bus. Parents then receive a notification via the app that their child has boarded the bus and again when they arrive at school.

A Bassingbourn Village College spokesman said that it ‘understands and sympathises’ with parents concerns and would continue to raise the concerns of parents with Cozys – but added that as the route was not managed by the school it could not control how the service is run.