To ask the Minister of Education to detail any urgent or emergency communications in place to ensure (i) school transport services; (ii) schools; (iii) parents and guardians; (iv) and pupils, are informed of road closures and disruptions to home to school journeys, particularly in coastal areas during storms, in a timely and effective manner.

The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for the operation and delivery of school transport. It has advised me that where advance notice is available regarding road closures or transport disruption, every effort is made to communicate this effectively through schools’ parent messaging systems and social media channels.

However, the EA does not currently operate a dedicated transport notification service that can provide real-time alerts to all service users, such as schools, pupils, parents or guardians, about urgent or unexpected changes to school transport services. This may include situations in which transport services are disrupted at short notice due to severe weather conditions or sudden road closures.