Parents hit back at Sheffield Council plan to cut school transport funding
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The cost of transporting children with extra needs in Sheffield is spiraling, with the authority expecting it to soar to £38m a year by 2028 without action.


A consultation is now open on a plan to effectively pass responsibility of sorting out transport for children 16 and over back to parents.
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Hide AdCurrently, the council is paying for taxis and minibuses to collect around 2,500 children with additional needs who struggle to walk or take public buses to school.
The council has called this provision - which for children over 16 is not statutorily required - “consistently one of the local authority’s biggest overspends each year.”
The new plan is for parents to arrange their own transport, while the council pays households a lump sum for fares depending on how far they have to travel.
However, it has been coldly received by some parents.
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Hide AdOne father, who asked not to be named, sends his 16-year-old autistic daughter from Sheffield to a special school in Rotherham. Under the proposed plan, he and his partner would be given the equivalent of £11 a day to arrange five-mile trips to and from school each day.
The dad said: “Currently, my daughter shares a taxi that stops and picks up other children on the way to school, and that’s far from a perfect system. One of the boys on the trips has meltdown or tries to open the car door as they drive.
“The new proposals, though, would mean sending vulnerable young people like my daughter off alone every day in taxis driven predominately by men. I don’t want that for my daughter.
“How are we meant to pay for two five-mile taxi trips a day at peak times with £11?
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Hide Ad“If it is passed, the only solution I can see is me and my partner changing work arrangements or one of us packing in our jobs entirely just to arrange travel.
“I can understand the budget constraints on the council but this is a cop out that passes responsibilities onto already-stressed and thinly stretched parents.”
Parents on a five-day timetable whose school is up to three miles away will receive £513 a year, or £171 a term, to pay transport costs.
The consultation closes at the end of January.
The Sheffield dad said he was also disappointed he and other parents had to “stumble across” the survey, rather than be invited to comment as one of the people affected.
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Hide AdSeveral other local authorities in England are planning the same switch, including Leeds, Leicester, Kirklees and Newcastle.


It comes in the same week the UK Government was blasted in a report by the Public Accounts Committee over how costs were pushing SEND provision in the country “to the brink” and seemingly have “no plan” to correct course, leading to a “lost generation” of children.
MP for Sheffield South East Clive Betts sat on the committee. When The Star asked him about the state of SEND provision, he said: “It’s a complete mess, and that’s a technical description.
“We are not delivering services well for children or parents - parents who are under pressure and for who it is costing a complete fortune.
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Hide Ad“The system will topple over in the next two years if it’s not resolved.
“There aren’t enough places in mainstream schools, special schools or one-to-one placements.
“there needs to be more resources - more money - and an approach that children don’t need a medical assessment and a diagnosis before you can plainly see they need additional support.
“We will be pressing the Government for a proper response.”
Councillor Dawn Dale, chair of Sheffield Council’s Education, Children’s & Families Committee, said: “We firmly believe as a Council that Sheffield should be a place where all children belong, and all young people can build a successful future.
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Hide Ad“We are always looking at ways we can improve the service we provide for Sheffield’s children, and have already been making strides in this area.
“But we want to do more, and now people can help us along this journey by taking part in this consultation to ensure the priorities of the people who live here and may be affected by these changes are heard.”
When the consultation was launched, Sheffield Council said:” It has long been the view by the Council that every child and young person in Sheffield should travel to their place of learning as independently as possible, arriving safely, settled, and ready to learn. This is even more important once they turn 16 and start to look towards young adulthood.
“Sheffield’s SEN schools and hubs have many important jobs - one of which is to give young people the life skills they need to thrive after school. As a Council we believe independent travel is high on that list.
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Hide Ad“Independent travel is known to have benefits for children in terms of educational achievement, developing life skills and social growth. And in recognising the diverse needs of children and young adults, we understand some may need extra support with travel arrangements to achieve their full potential.
“This consultation will look at proposals for better support for parents and teachers, with help with travel training and the introduction of a personal travel budget. This will enable young people and their carers to work towards independence while still being fully supported by the people they trust.”
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