Council plans £330k investment in Send transport

Essex County Council is the worst place in England for completing Send assessments

Essex County Council plans to spend more than £330,000 on improving transport for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Under the scheme, the authority is looking to hire a manager to ensure its home to school travel service provides value for money.

It followed the council forecasting a 70% rise in demand over the next decade, having spent £7.4m over budget on transport for Send pupils last year.

Councillors hoped the latest investment would reduce the demand on County Hall's under pressure Send officials.

Earlier this year, it was found that Essex County Council was the worst place in England for completing Send assessments.

Only 1% of children in the area were receiving an assessment for an educational health care plan (EHCP) within the legal time limit of 20 weeks.

Families of Send children have repeatedly criticised Essex County Council during meetings at County Hall

Under the planned cash injection for transport, the authority believed more staff would be freed up to tackle the extensive backlog.

It wanted to spend £134,000 on recruiting a travel manager for two years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service found.

Further investments would include £30,000 on research to consider new fleet business models and £172,000 on recruiting two additional transport officers.

"The role will also be critical in aiding the delivery of improvements to the home to school transport process," the council said.

New officers would help to "enhance value for money and service provision" for the tax payer, it added.