SEND school travel changes: 'It's not fair'

Jade Whillock said it would be a huge struggle to pay for her son's school transport

The mother of a boy with special educational needs said desperate parents were "paying the price" for cost savings to school transport at Birmingham City Council.

Jade Whillock applied to the authority's travel service to take her son Max, four, who is autistic and has global developmental delay, from their home in Sheldon to The Pines Special School in Stockland Green, an 18-mile round trip.

Instead, she was offered a "personal travel budget" to cover the cost of driving him herself. After an appeal, she was told she would have to pay £780 per year for the bus trip.

The council said it made decisions in accordance with its travel assistance policy and the national statutory guidance based on the evidence provided for each application.

The authority filed a section 114 order last week, which means it is essentially bankrupt.

The Pines Special School was the only school in Birmingham that could meet her son's complex needs, Mrs Whillock said.

One day before the start of term, the mother-of-three won her appeal against the decision to award her a personal transport budget, but was told she would have to pay £780 a year for a school bus to take her son to school.

However, she said she had received no written confirmation of the travel arrangements from the council, despite making repeated efforts to contact them, adding: "You can't expect a parent to simply put a child on a bus, wave them goodbye and just accept it.

"I was promised again and again somebody would call me... I've had to find this information myself."

She said her family would struggle to meet the annual cost of a school bus.

Mrs Whillock stated her family would have to make sacrifices

Mrs Whillock said she had spoken to other parents who had had their transport provision taken away this summer

Hundreds of parents have vented frustration over the service in a social media support group.

Many said their applications for free transport for the new term had been denied, with a personal budget offered instead.

Mrs Whillock said: "They're [Birmingham City Council are] trying to save money because they're bankrupt and our children pay the price for that unfortunately. It's not fair."

Council documents, dated July 2023 and seen by the BBC, revealed the authority spent £230,000 each day on transport for children and young people, mostly with special educational needs.

It supported 5,177 children with transport, with 200 more given personal transport budgets, it added.

The children and young people's travel service was on course for an £18.1m overspend in 2022/23, the document explained.

The report added: "Work is well under way to reduce spend in 2023/24, including a savings plan that addresses various areas that have been identified, including a revised procurement method, route optimisation and continued effectiveness of eligibility panels."

The authority said it offered support including "bus passes, personal transport budgets and places on shared transport".

The council stated: "We offer a range of transport support which offers flexibility and promotion of sustainable travel including public transport.

“Personal transport budgets are one of the ways we provide travel assistance and many families use them to make their own arrangements for their children to get to and from school."

This was something all local authorities "offer as a flexible transport offer", it added.