Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Laura Kyrke-Smith
Main Page: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)Department Debates - View all Laura Kyrke-Smith's debates with the Department for Education
(2 days, 1 hour ago)
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Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark.
I will highlight three suggestions that I have heard from my constituents in Aylesbury. First, information about home-to-school transport should be provided to parents in a timely and accurate way. I have heard about so many parents finally securing that school place and then falling at the final hurdle of not being given transport. Councils have to change that. Secondly, Buckinghamshire council is moving towards personal transport budgets, but £20 per day does not come close. I have heard about one case with an £84 return taxi fare to get the child to school. Councils need to allocate sufficient funding. Thirdly, councils must ensure that the transport that is provided is both safe and reliable. Unfortunately, I have heard of instances where that is not the case. Those transport providers need much tighter regulation. No one wants to send their child to school many miles away, but the broken SEND system necessitates it, and that has to change.