Local authorities across England are calling for significant changes to
how school transport for children with special educational needs and
disabilities is funded, warning that rising demand is putting severe pressure
on council budgets. The debate has intensified after councils proposed that
families could be means-tested to contribute towards transport costs, a move
that has drawn strong opposition from campaigners and disability charities.
The County Councils Network said that the number of people who need help
getting to and from school is growing too quickly for many councils to handle.
According to its research, the cost of moving kids with special educational
needs and disabilities could reach £3.4 billion a year by 2030 to 2031, up from
about £2 billion last year.
Councils say that without changes, they could be moving about 100,000
more students by the end of the decade. The group said that this rise was like
moving a city's worth of young people every day, which put more stress on local
services.
The pressure on SEND school transport funding has become a central
concern for local authorities already dealing with wider financial challenges.
To deal with rising costs, councils have suggested a national
means-testing policy. Families with incomes above a certain level would have to
pay for transportation under the plan. The County Councils Network said that
this kind of policy would need to be put in place slowly and carefully, keeping
in mind the rising cost of living for families.
The plan also calls for reviewing the legal limits on how far students
can walk, encouraging them to become more independent over time, and only
allowing individual taxi rides when there are no other options.
Supporters of reform argue that changes are necessary to maintain SEND
school transport funding in the long term and prevent the system from becoming
financially unmanageable.
Disability advocates and charities have strongly opposed the idea of
means testing, saying it could make it harder for kids who already have a lot
of trouble getting an education.
Anna Bird, who is the head of the charity Contact and the chair of the
Disabled Children's Partnership, said that decisions about transportation
should be based on need, not on family income. She said that making travel
plans for disabled kids to get to school is often harder than for other kids,
and that money problems could keep some kids from going to school at all.
Advocacy groups say that weakening support in the name of SEND school
transport funding reform risks undermining children’s rights and increasing
inequality.
Under the current rules, local governments must give free rides to
school-age kids who can't safely walk to their nearest suitable school because
of distance, a disability, or safety concerns. Because of this duty, more and
more students are getting help as the need grows.
Last year, councils helped about 206,000 kids and teens with disabilities and
special educational needs get to school. If current trends continue, the number
could rise to 311,000 by 2030 to 2031, according to projections.
These figures highlight the scale of the challenge facing policymakers
as they attempt to balance legal obligations with financial realities tied to
SEND school transport funding.
The UK government said earlier this month that it would spend £5 billion
to pay off most of the SEND-related debt that local governments have. This
measure doesn't include money for school transportation, so councils will still
have to pay more in that area.
A representative from the Department for Education said that the planned
changes will make schools more welcoming to all students, including those with
special needs, so that they can go to schools closer to home. The government's
upcoming schools white paper is likely to lay out plans to improve support, fix
regional inequalities, and make schools more sustainable in the long term.
Officials argue that better early intervention and improved local
provision could reduce pressure on SEND school transport funding over time.
Campaigners, including leaders from Special Needs Jungle and IPSEA, say
that rising transportation costs are mostly due to years of not investing
enough and not providing enough locally, not because families are asking for
too much. They say that framing parents as part of the problem is wrong because
many of them are just using their legal rights to get their kids a good
education.
As reforms get closer, the debate shows the bigger problem of balancing
the need to protect educational access for vulnerable children with the need to
keep the finances stable. There is now a national conversation about how to
best balance budgets while making sure that all students have the same
opportunities. This conversation is centered on the future of SEND school
transport funding.
Also Read :- Education Excellence Magazine for more information