Lanarkshire council cancels bin collection to allow binmen to become bus drivers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

North Lanarkshire Council's binmen will become bus drivers as the crisis involving pupil’s transport to school deepens. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), who’s responsible for organising both North and South Lanarkshire council’s school transport contracts, told both councils on Tuesday that they have not been able to “organise buses” on a number of routes.

That meant pupils across North Lanarkshire did not have their usual pick-up on buses for the new school term and continued on for the rest of the week.

The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now. Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android As a result, the council has opted to move drivers from its bin lorries to its school buses in a bid to ease the crisis.The council’s statement said: “Residents may be aware that SPT failed to put in place a number of school bus contracts in time for the start of term.“While work has been carried out to reduce the number of school bus routes affected, many remain unserviced.

The council has a legal duty to transport children who are eligible to school.“To assist SPT, who have sourced some additional buses but have been unable to engage drivers, some of our appropriately trained and qualified drivers will be required to drive buses for school transport.“While we will seek to engage replacement drivers as quickly as possible, this means that we have