School transport provision in England is in crisis, an influential committee of MPs has claimed.

Party Response: Conservative Party

Tim Yeo, shadow secretary of state for education, said: "This worrying report highlights that school transport is in a mess and is a failure of this Labour government. Labour's desire to charge children for school transport is yet another third term tax rise.

"We call on the government to make safeguards with regard to rural and faith schools that could be unfairly disadvantaged by any charging scheme.

"Labour have made these problems worse because of last year's school funding crisis. Discretionary school transport schemes are under threat and this could lead to even more car journeys being taken."

Party Response: Liberal Democrats

Paul Marsden, Liberal Democrat member of the transport select committee, said: "Legislation to combat the scourge of the school run is welcome, but the detail of the government’s proposals must be questioned.

"Charges for using school buses must not be levied on families that currently rely on the service. That would only drive those families back into their cars and make the problem worse.

"If a national school bus scheme is to work, local authorities must be able to decide the best means of delivery for their area, and the government must ensure that the buses are designed to be accessible for everyone.

"Every school bus must also meet the rigorous safety standards of the Vehicle Inspectorate. Our children’s lives should not be put at risk by unmaintained buses."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

A spokesman for the Professional Association of Teachers said: "It is important to try and reduce the increasing amount of traffic on our already congested roads - traffic that can cause accidents and injure or even kill children, especially around busy schools. The congestion caused around schools by parents driving or parking their cars can be a hazard in itself.

"Sometimes - particularly in rural areas - it may be necessary for parents to drive their children to school, but we would urge parents to explore other safe alternatives wherever possible.

"In 1999, members at our annual conference debated the impact that the 'school run' had on traffic levels and road safety around schools and voted for the motion 'Conference believes that chauffeuring children to school is damaging to their physical and psychological well-being'.

"A statistic quoted at the conference was that a million school run journeys were made every day, accounting for one in five cars on the roads during rush hour."