Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Calum Miller
Main Page: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)Department Debates - View all Calum Miller's debates with the Department for Education
(2 days, 1 hour ago)
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Jen Craft
I will make some headway.
The requirement for free transport returns for 19 to 25-year-olds with complex needs and an education, health and care plan, to support those who need longer in education or training to achieve their outcomes.
The guidance itself says:
“It is critical that, from year 9 at the latest, local authorities help young people start planning for a successful transition to adulthood.”
Given the importance of this transition, why does the statutory obligation for free transport fall between the ages of 16 to 19?
We cannot ignore the rising costs that councils face in carrying out their duty to provide free home-to-school transport. However, those costs are not the fault of disabled children. It is not a choice by families to send their disabled child or young person to a school far from home; it is a necessity, and the only way to receive the specialist provision that meets their needs.
Jen Craft
I would just like to make a little more progress.
When I think about my child’s journey through education, I do not see it in stages. The journey for my daughter and for every disabled child is a lifelong one. We need a statutory framework that reflects that and that provides stability, security and reassurance for disabled children throughout their development and for their families.
In the context of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, the situation with home-to-school transport is damaging the life chances of disabled pupils. I encourage the Minister to consider a framework that ends the current anomalies in the system, so that local authorities have a legal obligation to ensure that no child is denied an education that will allow them to get on in life.
I look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments about the existing framework, and the contributions of other Members, as we seek to develop a system that ensures that the needs of every child are met.
Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)
I thank the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this debate. I will focus on the length of time that young people with SEND often spend travelling to their special settings. This weekend, a mother attended my surgery to speak of her son, who was initially offered a taxi ride taking 45 minutes to his special school outside the county. Another child was added to the journey, taking the journey time to one hour and 15 minutes. A third child has now been added, so that boy, who has special needs and struggles with travelling with other children, is now travelling an hour and 45 minutes in each direction for school.
Oxfordshire is not unlike other counties, and my constituents in Bicester and Woodstock often have to send their children outside the county for education. I hope the Government will consider more capital funding for local education authorities so that they can provide more special schools in better settings. I also ask the Minister to consider a commitment that no special educational needs child should have to travel for more than 30 minutes to reach their school each day.