Council's SEND school transport budget rises 100%

The budget at Essex County Council for transporting children with educational needs to school has gone up nearly 100%, data has revealed.

The local authority allocated £22.37m for the service in 2021-22, but £42.73m in 2025-26.

An opposition councillor said more local provision for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) was needed to stop travel costs "spiralling".

Sam Journet, the Reform UK cabinet member for SEND, skills and education, pointed out the "pressures on the SEND system are recognised as a national challenge".

The council revealed the figures following a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000.

The increase in children getting support for SEND has been well documented, with a 12.5% rise in England over a recent 12-month period.

Essex is one of the largest local councils in the UK, and the number of families requesting an education, health and care plan has shot up in recent years.

Twenty-five companies and organisations provide home-to-school transport for the council.

One of them, 24x7 Group, was slated in a recent Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report, because of two complaints regarding late and missed pick-ups and an incident in which a girl went missing for 30 minutes.

The council made "serious and repeated failings" arranging transport, the ombudsman said.

Independent councillor Wendy Stamp said more special schools and expert teachers were needed around the county to reduce "spiralling" travel costs.

"The council needs to fund and build - not Portakabins on school sites - specialist local schools, suitable for a wide range of needs.

"They need to do this in a timely manner, as children do not stop growing and their needs do not improve without intervention."

There is a list of 25 Essex special schools on the council website - but none of them in Stamp's district of Maldon.

Journet said "improving our local SEND system remains our priority".

"We are working to offer different opportunities for families without compromising on quality," he said.

A small portion of the home-to-school budget for SEND children includes "travel training expenditure".

The FOI also revealed the council provided this transport - including for young people classed as "mainstream" - for a total of 13,939 children as of April.

That figure was 6,519 in April 2022.

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