Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
John Whitby
Main Page: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)Department Debates - View all John Whitby's debates with the Department for Education
(2 days, 1 hour ago)
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John Whitby (Derbyshire Dales) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this debate. Home-to-school transport is particularly important for young people living in rural areas such as Derbyshire Dales, with the average pupil in rural areas having to travel 10 miles each way to school, and one in 10 pupils in a special school needing to travel over 23 miles each way. These distances mean that, without home-to-school transport, it is often impossible for young people in rural areas to access education. For example, my constituent, who has autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and obsessive compulsive disorder, was denied home-to-school transport and was expected to take an almost three-hour bus journey just to get to school. The burden that the current post-16 system places on the time and finances of families is significant, as is the impact on a young person who is not in school.