(England) Rise in SPED numbers driving up the cost to councils of transport
The rise in the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities is driving up the cost to councils of arranging transport from home to school and college particularly in rural areas, with some developing cheaper alternatives amid warnings from local government leaders of system collapse.
Children are being let down by a home-to-school transport system which is buckling under the strain of soaring demand and unsustainable costs, council leaders have said.
Overall spending on home-to-school transport on children and young people aged up to 25 rose to £2.3bn [$3.1B] in 2023/24, a 70% increase since 2015/16, according to National Audit Office (NAO) analysis.
Transport for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is driving that rise – the cost for which is up 106% over the same period, compared with just 9% for mainstream pupils. . . .
The law requires councils to arrange transport for under-16s, but the duty becomes discretionary once a young person turns 16. Two-thirds of councils have stopped offering free post-16 transport, and roughly 50,000 16–18-year-olds have lost their entitlement since 2008, according to the Campaign for Better Transport.
Rachel Dixon, of disability charity Contact, describes the result as a “postcode lottery”.
“Your transport provision doesn't depend on your need, but it depends on your age and where you happen to live,” she explains.
Dixon says this is short sighted as without home-to-school transport, families may struggle to access work and education. “Very often, school transport is the glue that holds everything together,” Dixon adds.
Contact's 2025 transport survey found 44% of parents’ post-16 costs pushed them into financial difficulty. Dixon cited the case of one working single mother paying £46 a day for a private taxi after being given a personal transport budget of less than £10 a day once her son turned 16.
Councils do have a duty to ensure those with SEND have support to participate in education until 25, but in practice this can amount to little more than offering a bus pass, explains Dixon. . . .
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