As a humanist, do I have the same right to subsidised school transport as my religious neighbours?
First of all, no one has the right to subsidised or free school transport on grounds of religion, though LEAs have discretionary powers to subsidise transport for children going to distant Church schools, and some do. The BHA has been arguing for some time that, unless the same subsidy is extended to non-religious families sending their children to non-religious schools, the LEA is discriminating on grounds of religion or belief, and is thus in breach of the law (see Law on freedom of ‘religion or belief’). It looks as if recent decisions on the issue and forthcoming legislation on school transport will support treating families of all beliefs in the same way – which may mean that some LEAs decide not to subsidise any transport to school, except for low income families. Write to your MP about this – nothing will change unless people demand change.
