PLANS for a review of how York’s system for keeping youngsters safe on the daily school run are to be thrashed out next week.

City of York Council is to take a fresh look at school travel planning, which is expected to focus on issues such as parking outside schools and how many of the schemes already in place are up-to-date.

It is also set to examine whether the city’s school travel co-ordinator post can be retained after next April because of uncertainty over whether Government funding for the post will continue.

A council report said the authority was looking to increase the number of children who cycle to and from school from 6.9 per cent in 2008 to 13.4 per cent by next March, but that adequate safety measures must be in place for this to be achieved.

It also concluded that while most of York’s schools have travel plans in place, and the remaining schools are expected to deliver them by next spring, many are between three and four years old and will need updating.

The report states: “A school travel plan is a written document outlining a series of practical steps for improving children’s safety on the journey to and from school and for reducing car use while increasing active travel to school, particularly walking and cycling.

“The whole community should be involved. Parents, pupils and staff are surveyed and asked about their journey to school in order to identify if there are any aspects of the journey where children and adults feel unsafe and which may present a barrier to walking and cycling.”

The council said 20 per cent of peak-time traffic in York comes from the school run, and reducing this would help ease congestion, reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.

A meeting next week is aimed at laying out the review’s objectives and a timescale for it to be carried out.