NORTH Lanarkshire Council has been slated by a regulator after two wheels came off a school bus during a school run in October 2023.
An inquiry by the UK's most senior traffic commissioner was launched after the incident, which happened with no children on board.
It heavily referenced a DVSA investigation, which found that severe rusting and wear had brought the bus's wheel nuts to a level of damage where they were susceptible to breaking.
The inquiry also found that some inspection records for council school buses were missing, and that others had been completed improperly.
Commissioner Richard Turfitt chided the council's fleet management team, saying that: "It should not have proved necessary for a Traffic Commissioner to alert a Local Authority to the basic concepts of health and safety legislation and management.
"This could so easily have resulted in tragedy and the management of safety in the Authority would have found to be lacking.
"Any repeat or failure to meet the conditions on the permits is likely to result in their removal."
The commissioner elected to allow the council to keep its vehicle operation license under several conditions, including undergoing a safety audit and generating monthly reports about its school bus fleet.
Despite the council being permitted to keep its vehicle operation permits, it is continuing with long-standing plans to scrap most of its school bus services.
Parents have strongly opposed the plans, and have criticised the council's level of public engagement when making the decision.
The red-blue coalition in the council's administration saw Labour councillors intervene at a meeting in 2024 to stop the convener from allowing an SNP-proposed vote on extra school transport funding.
A North Lanarkshire school bus experienced a severe mechanical issue in 2017 which saw it flip over and roll down an embankment, injuring 22 pupils.
Other findings referenced in the inquiry included several instances of keys being left inside school buses, senior management unaware of many aspects of the school bus fleet, and a bus seat that was loose from the floor.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said, “The council accepts the commissioner’s findings in full and takes the safety of our fleet extremely seriously.
"Since the incident, we have taken significant steps to ensure that our vehicles meet all standards, including a strengthened maintenance, training and reporting regime and improved processes under a new management team."
“These improvements are reported to the most senior level of council management and will be the subject of independent external scrutiny to ensure they are being implemented appropriately.”
You can find more information on the inquiry here.
