Today at the County Councils Network annual conference, I chaired the launch session for a new report, commissioned by CCN from the ISOS partnership, on the rising costs of home to school transport, in particular for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The increase in costs - SEND transport costs at CCN member authorities are set to treble over the decade to 2027-28 - is one of the biggest factors threatening the financial stability of county and unitary councils.
The increase reflects the much larger number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans following reforms introduced in 2014-15, and the shift to more special school places, in many cases at greater distance from the family home. All this has taken place within the framework of a school transport system unaltered in its fundamentals from the provisions of the 1944 Education Act.
I have taken on the role of CCN’s spokesperson on children’s services, and so have been part of the report’s launch. It is a rigorous, high quality and important piece of work. Today was the official launch, but the media release was some days ago and the underlying arguments have been presented to government still earlier. Which is important, because while the report sets out proposals for longer-term reform, it also urges a short-term cash injection from government to meet the immediate pressures. We will see from tomorrow’s Autumn Statement how the government responds.
You can find more about the report and its release here.
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