CONSERVATIVE Parliamentary spokesman for Torridge and West Devon Geoffrey Cox this week strongly condemned the Government?s plans to make parents pay for sending their children to school on the school bus.

Mr Cox, whose own children have recently attended local primary schools, said: ?Don?t Tony Blair and Gordon Brown yet understand that rural families are already getting a raw deal from this government for their children?s education, without adding to their burdens??

The Queen?s Speech last week announced a draft bill (The School Transport Bill) requiring local councils to end free school transport and charge parents according to their income.

?In our rural area, a great number of parents are dependent on the school bus service to manage,? added Mr Cox.

?If the government gets its way, many of those will now have to pay.

?Yet, the government already spends £195 a year less on the education of a pupil in Torridge and West Devon than the national average. This is a disgrace.?

Devon?s leading councillor for schools John Hart said there was not nearly enough information on these proposals at the moment and the authority would have to wait to see the detail before responding.

?I am aware of the impact this could have on a very rural county like Devon where 20,000 pupils use school transport at a cost to the council taxpayer of nearly £19 million every year,? he said. ?I believe this could end up as the stealth tax of the century for the rural community.?