Double-Decker Scare Politics In The Classroom

The threat of funding being withdrawn or reduced for transporting secondary school pupils to Bradon Forest and Ridgeway has once again sprang up.

This story seems to rear it's head every few years and each time sinks without trace.

Swindon Centric Says ; Council threatens to reduce funding, says how much money is spent each year, says what it could be spent on, then finds it can afford it, by slightly reducing the service, residents breath a sigh of relief and are thankful to their elected representatives.

Sound familiar?

Wasn't this a tactic employed a while back, when there was discussion about the arts funding budget for Swindon?

You want to reduce the budget for something, so you threaten to withdraw all funding, then 'save' it, by a few months later, still cutting the budget as you originally wanted to, but the public thinks you've made huge efforts to address their concerns and save the service from vanishing all together.

Besides, if students all went to Greendown, wouldn't some of those on the fringes of West Swindon still need transport? How would Wiltshire County Council feel about the hugely underused sites at Ridgeway and Bradon Forest?