School taxi contract ended over safeguarding fears

Angela said the journey had left her daughter "shocked"

A council has terminated its contract with a taxi company to take a 13-year-old girl with disabilities to school after safeguarding concerns were raised.

Angela, from Mansfield Woodhouse, said her daughter had been driven off-route during a journey home with A1 Private Hire Ltd, to near an abandoned building in Slant Lane, where an unknown person was picked up by the driver.

She said that although the male passenger later left the vehicle and her daughter was taken home, it had "terrified" the girl and represented a serious safeguarding breach.

The taxi firm said it had "immediately" suspended the driver, and Nottinghamshire County Council apologised for "any distress caused".

The mum-of-five said she had been in constant contact with her daughter, Lottie, during her trip and had been tracking her location using an app.

The teenager receives transport assistance provided by the council because she uses a stoma bag, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and is neurodivergent.

"I noticed as I was following her, she wasn't coming home, she was going in a different direction," Angela said.

'Absolutely terrified'

She said Lottie then called her to tell her that something was not right.

"She was scared and worried because she was outside an abandoned building and another man was getting in the car, so obviously, I panicked and phoned the owner of the [taxi] company."

Angela said the taxi company called the driver with her concerns and the other passenger left the car.

"This shouldn't happen, it's a safeguarding issue, they should know before going to pick Lottie up the conditions of her route home," Angela said.

"Lottie was so upset, she was absolutely terrified... because she didn't know where she was."

She said the county council had supported her after she reported her concerns and had offered an alternative transport provider, as well as an assistant to join Lottie on the journey to make her "feel comfortable".

"I'm just terrified now, and it's going to make me one of those parents that are constantly making sure she's there.

"I do anyways... but this transport gave Lottie a bit of independence and now I'm fearing are we going to lose that because of what's happened."

'Unacceptable'

A spokesman for A1 Private Hire Ltd, based in Pinxton, Derbyshire, said the actions of the driver had been "unacceptable" and they had been suspended.

The firm said the driver had been running late and went to pick up his next assignment while Lottie was still in the car, which was at a learning facility, near the derelict building.

The spokesman said the company informs all of its drivers they should never pick anyone else up when on a contract like this.

"He shouldn't [have done it], it's a safeguarding issue, you can't pick up two students if they're not in the same contract.

"I don't know what happened to the driver, sometimes they do stupid things," he said.

Derek Higton, executive director for Place at Nottinghamshire County Council, said once the authority learned what took place, it terminated the firm's contract to take Lottie to school and a new provider for the family was arranged.

"We have also taken steps to ensure that the driver involved in this incident will no longer work on any Nottinghamshire County Council contracts.

"[The firm] is undertaking an investigation into this incident and we await their report outcome.

"We have informed our multi-agency safeguarding hub and will also ensure that this incident has been reported to the taxi licensing authority.

"We will continue to support the family and would like to apologise for any distress caused," he said.