I Always Seem To Read How Hard Up Councils Are,

but not so it seems in Wirral Council, on Merseyside, it is employing three full-time 'travel trainers', that is people who teach the public to read time tables and get on the bus and 120 people have so far received the training at a cost of about £36,000 a year, now if some one has poor English skills or learning difficulties I could understand that, but the Wirral scheme is open to anyone over 16, including 'young adults who may have never travelled alone before', as Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'In some circumstances this service will be needed but for the vast majority of people it will be unnecessary, most people know how to use public transport already or can learn from parents or work it out using their common sense', a spokesperson for Wirral Council defended the scheme, saying the money did not come directly from local residents and had been 'ring-fenced' for transport initiatives, 'ring fenced?' what does that mean, where did the money come from? who or what council/organisation will be £36,000 a year worse off? but the good news is that earlier this month, Bobby McHale, 15, was stunned to be awarded a certificate by his local council for catching a bus.