County education chiefs say that a scheme to provide poorer brighter children with help to meet the costs of transport to grammar school could have a £500,000 price tag.

The county council has been urged to consider the initiative as part of a wider set of measures to improve access to the county’s 33 selective schools by less well-off children.

It was a key recommendation of a cross party committee that examined ways to improve social mobility at grammar schools.

At a meeting to discuss progress on implementing its recommendations, KCC said that it would need at least £500,000 to operate such a scheme and there was currently no budget available.

However, the government is looking at the threshold for children who qualify for free school meals so more families who were currently unable to access help with transport could do so.

One possibility is that those earning up to £21,000 could qualify for help.

The move is in line with the pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to help families she identified as “just about managing.”

Cllr Jenny Whittle said help with transport costs was a vital part of any new measures to help poorer brighter children.

“We don't want to see transport costs being a barrier so I am confident that the decision makers at KCC Have taken this on board.”

“It does highlight that the free school meal threshold has not been reviewed for some years and I know that KCC will be lobbying government to ensure it is raised so more families can have the benefits that come with that.”

She said she was encouraged that the council was acting already on the committee’s recommendations.

“I am pleased that KCC is having a constructive dialogue with primary headteachers and grammar schools to ensure that children from poorer backgrounds who are academically able can access a place at grammar school.”

However, UKIP opposition leader Roger Latchford questioned the rate of progress the council was making.

“The report keeps on mentioning ‘we will’ rather than ‘we are’.

"I would like to have seen more saying ‘work is underway on this,’” he told a meeting of KCC’s scrutiny committee.

The controversy over the government’s plans continued to dominate the domestic political agenda this week with the education select committee holding a hearing in which academic experts told MPs there was no consensus around the claim that grammars lifted standards.