School transport comes under the financial spotlight

Estimated data from the Department for Education reveals that 470,000 pupils under 16s use local authority funded transport to get to school.

The equates to six per cent of all pupils. Of these, 40 per cent (180,000) have SEND, of which nine per cent travel in single occupancy vehicles.

The data, the first of its kind, is based on voluntary submissions from three quarters of local authorities in February and March this year.

Local authorities spent £1.5bn on transport for under-16s with Send in the 2023-24 financial year, about two-and-a-half times, external what it was in 2015-16.

In addition to SEND provision Local authorities in England are required by law to arrange funded transport for children who live a certain distance from school or who cannot walk due to safety reasons.

Warwickshire County Council's leader, 18 year old George Finch (Reform), has written to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, seeking to allow the council to set its own rules over walking distances in order to save money.

In a statement to the BBC, the education secretary said:

"A Reform-run council is seriously proposing to make children in a deprived area walk five miles to school so the council can balance their books. If you want an example of the danger that Reform would pose to our children if they ever got into government, look no further."

Responding to the new statistics, Rob Williams, senior policy advisor at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Every child, including those with special educational needs (SEND), deserves access to a suitable education, regardless of where they live, their family’s financial situation, or whether they have their own transport.

“For many, transport provided by the local authority plays a crucial role in ensuring this, helping children to attend school regularly and develop their independence.

“However, a growing number of councils are reducing transport provision due to increasing budgetary pressures, and when children simply cannot get to school this threatens to deepen existing attainment gaps and place even more pressure on already stretched parents.

“This is just one part of a broader, worrying mismatch which has emerged over the last decade between the needs of children, especially those with SEND, and the resources available to ensure they get the provision they deserve. It’s vital that the government’s promised white paper delivers both the investment and reform needed to fix this broken system.”

In Scotland, a growing number of councils are tightening their policies on free school bus provision. Parents' groups claim it is leaving a "massive muddle", with some pupils struggling to get to school.