Under-fire Wiltshire Council is proposing to offer some financial help to parents in its plans to axe a subsidy for faith school buses.

The council announced in May it would withdraw its funding towards buses for children attending faith schools from September 2012, leaving parents to fund the entire cost of about £800 per child. Currently parents pay between £300 and £400.

But after protests the council said it would pay £409 for each pupil who would enter their final year of GCSE studies in September 2012 and payment would be for that year only.

This is the second climbdown the Conservative-run Cabinet has announced in recent weeks, following the decision to defer the Cabinet meeting where a final decision will be made from this month to September 13.

A report for the Cabinet meeting sets out the council’s favoured option above, which would save £132,000 in the first year followed by year on year savings of about £160,000.

The report contains another option, to pay £409 per pupil already attending school until they leave. But officers say this would result in only £38,000 saved in the first year and would take five years for savings of £158,000 to be achieved.

The council has also revised its original estimate of the amount of money cutting the subsidy completely would save.

Instead of £170,000 it would be £153,000 in the first year.

Councillor Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We have listened to what people have said and we have put two other options together. There was a concern from parents that this would disrupt the education of children going into their final year of their GCSEs so it seemed sensible to put out options to enable children to continue at their existing school.”

The council has received 213 responses from parents, schools and church representatives, including from 125 people from the Devizes area.

The council’s children’s select committee has set up a rapid scrutiny task group which will produce a report with recommendations ahead of the Cabinet meeting on September 13. The group is planning to hold a meeting at which the public can participate.

For details, visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk or call (01225) 718052.