Swinney to ‘pursue' payments for cancelled school trips

The education secretary has promised to pursue the issue of families who fear losing out on payments for school trips cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Neil Bibby said he had been contacted by families who made "sacrifices" in order to pay for now-cancelled school trips.

Neil Bibby, the Labour MSP for the west of Scotland, told Holyrood that many low income households took on debts so as to pay for their children to go on school excursions.

With some travel providers attempting to get schools to rebook the cancelled trips for 2021 instead of offering full refunds, Mr Bibby said he has been contacted by upset parents who had made "sacrifices" in order to fulfil the payments.

After he asked the Scottish Government to provide help to those impacted, John Swinney offered an undertaking to “pursue that issue with out local authority colleagues."

He added: “I recognise the seriousness of the issue that Mr Bibby raises.

“I am conscious of the fact that many families will, as Mr Bibby rightly suggests, have made significant financial sacrifices to make sure that young people are able to participate in these trips.”

Mr Bibby said: “I urged the Scottish Government to use its power and influence, and to work with COSLA, to ensure that every family is immediately fully refunded the full value of what they have paid.

“I am pleased that Mr Swinney agreed to pursue this issue, and to give consideration to publishing the details of any travel companies which refuse to co-operate.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director