The leader of Warwickshire County Council has been accused by the education secretary of "taking our children back to the Victorian era" with his bid to change walking distances to local schools.

In an attempt to cut costs for free home to school transport, Reform's Cllr George Finch asked Bridget Phillipson if the council could be allowed to increase the statutory minimum distance children must walk to school before the council has to provide them with transport.

Recent numbers from the local authority showed the costs of this service have risen from £17.9 million in 2018/19 to £50 million this year, with the leader saying "our hands are tied" when trying to reduce the spend.

Currently children over eight are eligible for free travel to their nearest suitable school if they have to walk over three miles, and two miles for those younger.

In a statement to the BBC, Ms Phillipson said: "A Reform-run council is seriously proposing to make children in a deprived area walk five miles to school so [the council] can balance their books."

She continued: "It's typical of Reform's approach: make big promises about finding waste and then discover you can't deliver without hitting working families with cuts to services or tax rises.

"It's happening over and over again in Reform-led councils and it's what they'd do for the country too."

Cllr Finch claimed increasing the minimum distance by one mile would reduce the number of eligible children by eight per cent (800 children), or by 16 per cent if it was increased by two miles (1,600).

A change to the statutory minimum would force parents to sort transport themselves if their children were no longer eligible for support.

"Despite the various steps we are proactively taking to seek to improve efficiencies and minimise costs for the delivery of these services, we anticipate that these costs will rise to around £80 million over the next five years," Cllr Finch wrote. 

"Such cost increases inevitably put pressure on the council's budget, with potential impacts on the wider delivery of services undertaken by the authority."

The Reform councillor's plans have been met with widespread criticism from opposition parties.

Green Party councillor Sam Jones shared a video on Instagram over the weekend of himself walking five miles and poking fun at the scheme and questioning why Reform want to put an extra burden on parents during a cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile the opposition Liberal Democrats also voiced their opposition.

"Parents and carers will be horrified by the dangerous prospect of their children having to walk such huge distances to and from school each day,' said Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Lib Dem leader at WCC. 

"In many parts of Warwickshire the routes to school do not have a lit pavement over the distances proposed and, if our children and grandchildren have to carry school bags, sports kit and musical instruments over the proposed distances, they're much more likely to arrive at school too tired to learn.

"For the Conservative-backed Reform UK leadership to make this proposal at a time when many Warwickshire parents are discussing with their children their choice of primary and secondary school for September 2026 shows how out of touch they are with the reality of family life."