"What will Caerphilly Council say if a child is harmed walking to school?"
In September, children in Caerphilly County could be forced to walk up to six miles a day to and from school.
Hello and welcome to The Valleys Lead.
First off, we hope you managed to survive the worst of the heat wave.
We’re taking you to Bedwas today, where more than 400 residents have signed a petition asking for Caerphilly Council to reconsider its plans to make changes to school tranpsort.
The Valleys Lead covered a similar story from Rhondda Cynon Taf earlier in the year.
Are we expecting too much of children, asking them to walk up to 6 miles a day to and from school? Or perhaps we underestimate what they are capable of? We’ll leave you to decide. The story is below - let us know what you think in the comments or at laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com.
But first - just quickly - we’d love you to subscribe (free options to read partially, with paid options to read in full) to The Valleys Lead to support local journalism in the south Wales valleys. We don’t do clickbait, but instead, go behind the headlines to report on stories that matter to locals, asking questions of people in power, and speaking with real people in the valleys about their opinions and experiences.
Free and paid options available - just enter your email below.
The Valleys Briefing
(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys. Anytime you have something you’d like to share, no matter how big or small, email laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com):
The results of Thursday’s Dowlais and Pant by-election are in. Welsh Labour’s Dean Barrett has been appointed as councillor. Below is the number of votes each party/candidate received.
Plaid Cymru: 125 votes
Reform UK: 160 votes
Welsh Conservatives: 11 votes
Wales Green Party: 20 votes
Welsh Labour: 356 votes
Nick Meaney (Independent candidate): 215 votes
In Treorchy, Richard Clarke of Plaid Cymru has been elected as the new local councillor following the by-election. Below is the number of votes each party/candidate received.
Plaid Cymru: 1147 votes
Reform UK: 260 votes
Welsh Labour: 164 votes
Welsh Conservatives: 27 votes
Wales Green Party: 23 votes
There has been a slight increase in the number of people at risk of safeguarding issues in Blaenau Gwent in the last year. At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Adult, Communities, and Wellbeing scrutiny committee on Thursday, councillors reviewed the annual safeguarding performance report for 2025/2026. The number of reports received by the Council went up from 834 in 2024/2025 to 852 last year. The highest number of referrals were for older people (more than half). If you are in Blaenau Gwent and want to speak with The Valleys Lead about safeguarding risks for vulnerable people, please email laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com.
“What will Caerphilly Council say if a child is harmed walking to school?”
Every time Max Joseph, a 51-year-old dad living in Bedwas, thinks about his young daughter walking to and from comprehensive school from September, he feels incredibly anxious.
“This whole situation is worrying me,” Max told The Valleys Lead. “You just want your kids to be safe.”
The “situation” Max refers to is a change to school transportation in Caerphilly County that will come into effect from September.
In Wales, the current statutory criteria for free school transport under the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008 are:
Primary education: Children aged 5 and over qualify if they live 2 miles or more from their nearest suitable school.
Secondary education: Children aged 11 to 16 qualify if they live 3 miles or more from their nearest suitable school.
“Caerphilly went above that and has had a slightly more favourable allowance for a number of years,” Caerphilly councillor Steve Skivens, told The Valleys Lead. “But they’ve decided now, at fairly short notice, that they can’t afford it anymore, and have cut it. There have been no mitigation measures, no liaising with parents, and no transition period. It’s just being cut from September.”
If the cuts go ahead, as they are most likely to, the impact would be felt by children, who could be walking up to three miles each way to school, crossing busy intersections – perhaps in the dark, in the rain, or (as we’ve felt this week) in the extreme heat - with heavy bags and instruments. He’s particularly concerned for families who have chosen Welsh-medium or faith schools, which might be further than the nearest school.
Although Max said the distance his children have to walk is just below the statutory mileage, they will have to walk a route to and from school which is simply not safe in terms of traffic, void of public footways, and not well lit.
“My daughter in year 7 is really worried about it and scared about having to walk to school in the pouring rain and in the dark, all alone – her friends don’t live near us,” he said. “Both my wife and I are teachers, so we haven’t got time to take the kids by car.”
