Leicestershire families 'let down' over SEND school transport

Zoe Green had to spend three hours a day driving her son Joshua to school and back

Parents of vulnerable children say they are battling a "broken system" for suitable school transport.

Leicestershire County Council provides a taxi service for those in the county with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

However, some families said changes this academic term have resulted in emotional distress and missed days at school.

The council has apologised and said it had seen a huge increase in demand for SEN transport.

Zoe Green said her son Joshua, eight, had been taken to his specialist school by a "wonderful" taxi driver for the last two years.

However, the driver's contract was re-tendered by the council and Joshua was given new transportation.

Ms Green said the new driver would not do a "meet and greet" with the family before the start of the school term - something she said was common practice for children with special needs.

"I thought there is absolutely no way that I am putting my child, my vulnerable child, in a taxi with complete strangers," she said.

'Lack of support'

Ms Green said she reported the issue to the council, but no-one got back to her in time.

Joshua then refused to get inside the taxi on the first day of the school year.

Ms Green said she then spent three hours a day driving her son to school and back until his original taxi driver was reallocated.

She said parents were "battling against a system that is completely broken".

Another parent, Sonal Kuchadia told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she had experienced similar issues with transport for her brother Jay.

She said the 19-year-old had complex needs and can become very distressed.

Ms Kuchadia said it had been a three-year struggle to secure a college place for Jay and he now could not attend.

"We feel let down. We have been treated poorly and are very disappointed by the lack of support or any attempt at resolving the issue," she said.

'Dire financial situation'

Sandy Scott said there was a council delay in appointing a new school place for her son Lucas, which had a knock on effect on his transport application.

Lucas, 11, has autism and his family has to work with him around new routines.

She said: "He's been preparing all summer time for this wonderful, wonderful school.

"He was expecting to be in a taxi. We prepared him for that taxi for months."

However, the council had not been able to allocate a taxi to Lucas by the start of term, so Ms Scott has had to take him to school herself.

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, from Leicestershire County Council, said he understood the frustration that transport issues had caused parents and students.

"Since 2016 the number of children with SEN needing school transport has increased from 1,500 to nearly 3,000," he said.

"This presents a significant challenge given the council's increasingly dire financial situation and is worsened by our current difficulty in recruiting the people we need to deliver our service.

"We are now progressing a review of our processes to improve the service."