The Council were, on Monday 17 November, advised that the BATS Board of Trustees have made the decision to cease trading and have entered voluntary insolvency from Wednesday 19 November, including the home-to-school travel assistance for our pupils with Special Educational Needs.

Since receiving the news earlier this week, our priority has been to work with those pupils and families that are affected and to put in place alternative travel arrangements. Despite the very short notice and the associated complexities, the Council has worked at speed to put in place alternative home-to-school travel assistance for all the affected pupils from Thursday 20 November. This has resulted in our pupils and families only having one day of disruption. We would like to thank our families and schools for being so understanding during this time. No other routes provided by the Council’s other transport providers were affected.

BATS has served the Bexley community for 23 years and have provided home-to-school travel assistance for our pupils, and we are grateful for the support they have provided to us over many years and our thoughts are with all of those who may be affected by this sudden announcement.

If any parent or carer has any concern, then please do contact the Bexley Integrated Transport Unit (BITU) on 0203 045 4431 or bitu@bexley.gov.uk.