New consultation on school SEND transport delayed

Campaigners are fighting to keep special needs transport for children over 16

Parents of young people with special needs will be involved in a fresh consultation in September on plans to pull financial support towards travel.

Leicester City Council will reconsult with parents and schools over proposals to scrap school transport funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students aged 16 to 19, who attend a school more than three miles from their home.

The authority had planned to carry out a second review at the beginning of June but this has been delayed until September due to pre-election period rules.

The consultation over a decision to remove the financial support was made in 2022, but some parents said they had not been aware of the proposals and raised concerns about how the council consulted on the issue.

Children and parents protesting against proposed cuts to SEND transport

This prompted a rethink by the city council to launch a second consultation this year, which will ask for comments on a revised policy and how it will impact parents and children.

Deputy city mayor, Sarah Russell, explained the decision for a fresh consultation came after meetings with parents and legal advice taken on the process.

Laurence Jones, the council's strategic director of social care and education, said: "We're not allowed to launch this consultation until after the election on 4 July, and this would take us very close to the end of the summer term on 12 July.

"It's important that schools are involved in the consultation, so we are now planning to start it in the new autumn term at the beginning of September."

Funding had been due to end in July this year, but any future changes decided after the new consultation would take effect during the 2024-25 academic year.

The city council previously said about 450 children could be affected by the change, and attributed the decision to funding cuts from the government.

Parents have expressed their concerns about the proposals saying in some cases children who have waited to get a place in a special school would then find it impossible to get to school to take up their place.

The council previously said it was prepared to consider "exceptions" to the policy and was working through "a number of requests".

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