Families who have children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) should be means tested for school transport, according to councils in England, who say demand is rising “at an unsustainable rate”.
Local authorities are urging the government to be “radical” in its Send reforms, which are expected imminently, warning that annual costs on home-to-school transport for children with Send could rise to £3.4bn by 2030-31, up from £2bn last year.
The County Councils Network (CCN) said its analysis showed that without significant system reform local authorities would be transporting 100,000 additional pupils – “a city’s worth of young people” – to school by the end of the decade.
It is calling on the government to introduce a national means-testing policy so families above a specified income threshold would be required to make a financial contribution to home-to-school transport. “This would need to be implemented sensitively and progressively, bearing in mind the current cost of living crisis,” the CCN report advised.
It further called for a rethink of the statutory walking limit eligibility criteria (two miles for under-eights and three miles for children aged eight and over), annual reviews of transport arrangements with a presumption of greater independence over time and clear messaging to parents that individual taxi transport is “an option of last resort”.
However, campaigners warned that means testing risked locking disabled children and young people out of education altogether. Anna Bird, the chair of the Disabled Children’s Partnership and the chief executive of the charity Contact, said: “School transport should be based on a child’s need and not what their parents earn.
“Transporting disabled children to school is far more complicated than for their non-disabled peers. Means testing transport doesn’t just balance budgets – it risks locking disabled children and young people out of education altogether.”
Local authorities are required to provide free transport for school-age children who cannot walk to their nearest suitable school due to distance, special educational needs or disabilities, or safety concerns.
Earlier this month, the government announced it would spend £5bn clearing 90% of local authority Send debt, on condition that local authorities agree to Send updates in line with government plans to be outlined in an imminent white paper.
This does not, however, take into account expenditure on Send home-to-school transport. Last year councils transported an estimated 206,000 children and young people with Send to school – a record high. That will rise to 311,000 by 2030-31 should current trends continue.
Bill Revans, CCN’s Send spokesperson, said school transport costs had become one of the biggest pressures on council budgets. “The numbers are becoming overwhelming for many councils’ budgets. If nothing changes, they will be transporting more than 100,000 additional pupils within six years – a city’s worth of young people,” he said.
Tania Tirraoro, the founder and co-director of Special Needs Jungle, said: “This is standard fare for local authorities – blame families for exercising their rights, then recommend that these rights be curtailed for financial reasons. Without school transport, many young people with Send could not access education. It’s a necessity, not a luxury.”
Madeleine Cassidy, the chief executive of IPSEA, the leading charity specialising in Send law in England, said: “Long journeys and rising transport costs are not the result of excessive ‘demand’ from parents, but of years of under‑investment and unlawful decision‑making that force children into settings far from home. These pressures must never be used to justify reducing children’s rights or entitlements.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said its Send reforms would “transform life chances for children with additional needs so every child can thrive in a school that meets their needs, close to home”.
“Our forthcoming schools white paper will set out how we will build a more inclusive education system that delivers support earlier, restores financial sustainability, and ends the postcode lottery once and for all,” they said.
