AQW 31425/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Education
To ask the Minister of Education to detail a breakdown of the amount spent (i) to maintain the fleet of school buses operated by the Education Authority (EA); and (ii) on new buses for the EA fleet, in each of the past ten years.
Asked by Kellie Armstrong MLA on 17 September 2025
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 17 September 2025
- Answer due by
- 2 October 2025
- Answered
- 29 September 202512 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Education
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The Education Authority (EA) has advised me that due to its retention policy, financial records are only available for the past seven financial years.
(i) The amount spent to maintain the EA school bus fleet in each of the last seven financial years is detailed in the table below:
| Financial Year | Maintenance costs for EA school bus fleet |
| 2018/2019 | £5,058,950 |
| 2019/2020 | £5,643,976 |
| 2020/2021 | £3,899,696 |
| 2021/2022 | £4,664,891 |
| 2022/2023 | £5,020,750 |
| 2023/2024 | £5,751,304 |
| 2024/2025 | £6,642,178 |
(ii) The amount spent on purchasing school buses for the EA fleet in each of the last seven financial years is detailed in the table below:
| Financial Year | Amount spent on purchasing new EA buses |
| 2019/2020 | £2,099,000 |
| 2020/2021 | £13,248,000 |
| 2021/2022 | £19,735,000 |
| 2022/2023 | £5,744,000 |
| 2023/2024 | £75,000 |
| 2024/2025 | £2,594,000 |