More than 5,000 children from Greater Manchester could benefit from a free school bus pass Andy Burnham is 'looking at'.

New data shows 5,397 children from eight Greater Manchester boroughs live in temporary homeless accommodation, and education experts believe swathes of these youngsters are missing school due to a little-known government rule. 

It says kids in temporary accommodation can only get free bus travel if they're more than two miles from the classroom and there's no 'suitable' school closer to their temporary home.

In Greater Manchester, it's almost impossible to move two miles from home and not be nearer a new school — so experts say homeless parents face either paying for buses they previously didn't need to, or moving their children away from friends and supportive staff to a new school.

This dilemma has prompted calls for the mayor to introduce a new bus pass for children in temporary accommodation.

Last month (September 1), Mr Burnham said he was 'looking carefully at' the proposal.

Homeless parents are forced either to pay extra for buses they previously didn't need to, or move their children to a new school (Image - Nub News)

"What I can say today is we're going to look carefully at it to see if we can do it," he explained. 

"Now, I say it like that just because I have to be sure that when I say something that we can find a way of financing it, and we don't just throw too many commitments out, and we can't sustain the changes because of the fare box situation.

"But I'm personally sympathetic to what you're saying. I think the vast majority of people in Greater Manchester would be as well."

Until now, the number of homeless children who could benefit from the pass has been quoted in the thousands by experts' educated guesswork.

But new statistics revealed by a Local Democracy Reporting Service Freedom of Information request has revealed 5,397 children were in temporary accommodation across Greater Manchester eight boroughs in August.

The LDRS asked councils to provide an exact figure of how many children were further than two or three miles from school, but most declined, meaning it remains difficult to estimate exactly how many children would be eligible for the bus pass.

However, the 5,397 children help make up the 172,000 children in temporary accommodation across the UK.

That's according to housing rights charity Just Fair, who slammed the figures released last week as 'a national disgrace'.

"Behind every statistic is a child spending nights in a B&B, travelling miles to school, or growing up without the stability of a home," said Jess McQuail.

"Housing is a human right, recognised in international law. When over 172,000 children are denied that right, their other rights, to health, education, and family life, are undermined."

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