Council launches consultation on cost-cutting changes to SEND transport offer
Amrit Virdi
Monday, July 1, 2024
Leeds City Council has launched a public consultation on changes to its home-to-school transport offer for older teenagers with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in a bid to alleviate pressure on the local authority's budget.
The council has launched the online consultation, "with the aim of promoting independence through travel", after councillors approved the plans. The consultation will be open until 23 July.
The proposed changes include considering travel distances to education settings, helping students make their own transport arrangements via a transport allowance, asking for a contribution towards transport costs, and limiting support to post-16 only with support for post-19 learners ending.
The council says these changes would help to alleviate the financial challenge it is currently facing, as the number of learners receiving transport support has doubled since 2015.
Transport assistance is currently costing the council between £4mn and £4.5mn every year.
Research from the Local Government Association revealed that local authorities face a £6.2 billion funding gap over the next two years, due in part to increasing home-to-school transport for children and young people with SEND.
The County Councils Network (CNN) has also called for a more sustainable and fairer school transport system in its manifesto for the next government.
Last year, the CCN warned that local authority SEND transport costs could top £1bn by 2028.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council executive member for children and families, said: “We remain firmly committed to supporting all those in Leeds with special educational needs and disabilities as much as possible, but the level of transport support we currently offer is not sustainable given the current financial challenges the council faces and the increasing level of demand.
“We will be encouraging young people, their families, and partners across the city to take part in the consultation in order to reach a carefully considered decision on how to proceed.”
Any approved changes after the consultation will be phased in from the 2025/26 academic year.
