Conwy council scrutiny committee have elected to not scarp free educational services for those over the age of 18-years.

The education and skills overview and scrutiny committee last week voted to keep the same level of provision as present and to find elsewhere for savings within the budget.

This decision comes following a public consolation on the post 16 education transport service last month.

Currently council offer free transport to pupils over the age of 16 who are attending school or designated colleges.

Under new proposals families could be required to pay up to £240 a year for the same service or the free education transport could be stopped all together, forcing families to find their own way to school or college.

The removal of the service entirely would see the council net £420,000 worth of savings from not paying for the free transport.

But the public disagreed with this decision.

Vice chairperson of Conwy's youth council, Zacchaeus Hayward, at the scrutiny committee meeting last week said the free transport was a "lifeline" to some students.

He said: "The student body at College Llandrillo has been up in arms over these potential cuts as access to a non conventional eduction would be hard to come by if they were to forced to find alternative modes of transport."

Chairperson for the scrutiny committee, councillor Julie Fallon, said the council was in a difficult position, trying to save money but also not lose a vital service to the county.

In last week's meeting she said: "We've got headteachers here and a number of teachers who have comment, all of which have been working with post 16 for a long time, they are all acknowledging the fact there will be a number of students who will not go to school or college if they have to pay for transport.

"Not as simple as looking at the figures and saying its as simple as saving £435,000 a year, it's not, it's way way bigger than that."

Conwy County Borough Councillor for Llanrwst, Aaron Wynne, said he was glad the committee had made the decision they had.

He said: "I’m glad Scrutiny Members agree with me that scrapping the educational bus services in Conwy, or introducing a fee, would unfairly burden our young learners who are already under a lot of pressure.

"A change in this service would disproportionately affect rural Conwy, and make access to education and training a great deal harder.

“This is the time when we should be doing all that we can to remove barriers to education and training. I hope the Cabinet will take our recommendation into account when they decide the fate of this important service.”

The scrutiny committee's decision now becomes a recommendation for cabinet will now be left with the final decision.