Dec 6, 2024, Oakhem Nub News: New school transport plans could hit low-income families and parents of SEN children
E. Midlands
Low-income families and parents of children with special needs could be affected by new school transport plans being consulted on by Rutland County Council.
Under the proposals, which are being considered as a way of cutting the council's transport budget, parents of Rutland sixth formers who currently travel for free may have to pay half of the transport costs.
Some children who may have been entitled to free travel under the existing special educational needs policy may no longer be eligible.
After a review, the authority is bringing together four existing policies which date back to 2017 and will begin a six-week consultation next month, with the new policy expected to be implemented in May. Any new charges would come in from September 2026.
The Liberal Democrat-run authority, which is in a budget reducing phase, is predicting it will go almost £889,000 [$1.1M] over budget on home to school transport costs this financial year and could spend just over £4 million [$5M] on transporting children to mainstream schools, post-16 education and special schools.
The authority says that since the transport policies began in 2017 the cost of providing transport for young people with special education needs and disabilities has grown by 269 per cent and now amounts to £1,498,410 [$1.9M] annually.
The authority is not spelling out in detail where the savings will come from, but the report predicts savings of £526,000 will be made from the next financial year until 2028 by 'optimising the transport routes, improved procurement though the introduction of a dynamic purchasing system and management of the contracts'.
The budget for sixth-formers is £116,177 but in the past few years an additional £42,000 was spent.
Proposals being consulted on include sixth-formers from low-income families having to pay 50 per cent of school travel costs, while children with special educational needs would not automatically qualify for travel assistance. . . .
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