Dear All,

This is a newsletter for all new and renewing members of BLOC. Thank you to everyone who has registered and paid: this makes the committee’s job a lot easier.

Thank you also to members from this year who have renewed their membership. This year the new committee has:

• Planned for major road closures with major route updates
• Negotiated a new welfare process where the school retains accountability and responsibility
• Negotiated a sustainable bus price increase with the bus company against the challenge of inflation (the September 2023 FT fare is £5 less than the equivalent 2022 fare)
• Dealt with a higher number of code of conduct issues
• Handled serious congestion issues
• Ensured that there are no outstanding invoices throughout the whole year
• Improved the invoicing process so that they are issued earlier allowing more time to make payments
• Codified the terms of usage of BLOC in a new Ts and Cs document, removing ambiguity
• Embraced user requests for a defined consultation process for major changes

And of course, the day to day jobs that have meant that the buses have been getting our children to and from school every day. I would like to thank all the committee members for their hard work.

Wednesday Lunchtime Buses in September 2023

Next year BLOC will not operate a Wednesday lunchtime bus.

The consultation had 34 responses. The responses indicated the following:

• the majority would prefer to pay separately for the lunchtime bus or not have it at all
• 70% of respondents who use the lunchtime bus would be happy to pay for it separately
• A separately paid for service should be organized separately to BLOC
• A service open to all students would better serve the transport needs of the school

You can also read all the consultation comments.

The BLOC committee have been in touch with two people who volunteered to organise a lunchtime bus next year about how to take it forward. This would allow additional school members to use the bus and be more inclusive.

AGM 2023

The AGM will be in September or October next school year. The date will be confirmed in the last few weeks of August. In preparation for the AGM:

1. Please review the BOC constitution
2. All BLOC committee roles will be open as per the constitution (see job descriptions). If you would like to stand or want to find out more please contact info@blocbus.org by the 31st of August

Only members who have paid their invoice in full are eligible to vote at the AGM. Those who have not paid can still attend.

Summer Holidays

Finally we would like to remind you that the BLOC committee will have limited time to respond to queries over the summer holidays, but will aim to get back to most queries before the start of term.

We hope everyone has a relaxing summer and we look forward to seeing you all next year.

The BLOC Committee