Special needs crisis: Transporting SEN children to school is costing £1.5bn a YEAR as numbers with EHCP entitlements soar

Daily Mail​

7 hours ago

The cost of transporting children with special needs to schools in England spiked to £1.5billion last year, according to official estimates.
The sharp increase comes amid mounting fears over pressures on the system from youngsters requiring additional support.
Data released last week showed the number of children with education, health and care (EHC) plans - which allow them to access funding for special needs - surged by 10 per cent in the year to January.
And provisional budgets have underlined the increase in the costs of helping people get to schools.
Just over £1.5billion was earmarked for transporting SEN pupils aged up to 16 in 2024-25. That was up from £1.2billion the previous year - and around three times the level from 2017-18.
The overall schools budget in England was around £64billion last year.
Transport for mainstream pupils rose by around a fifth to £514million in 2024-25, although the rises have not been as pronounced previously.
Local authorities are responsible for funding the support specified in EHCPs, which can include attending special schools further away.
Previous research by CCN - the County Councils Network - has shown the average local authority in England was transporting 1,300 SEND pupils in 2023-24.
That was 43 per cent higher than the 911 in 2018-19. The average cost per SEND pupil using transport has also increased by a third from £6,280 to £8,299.
SEND is a slightly broader category than SEN, including those classed as having disabilities.
Any child is entitled to free travel if the nearest suitable school is more than two miles away for under-eights - or three miles for older children.
Department for Education (DfE) figures showed last week that there were 638,700 children and young people with an EHCP as of January this year.
That was 10.8 per cent higher than in January 2024, when there were 576,474 children and young people with an EHC plan.
An EHC plan is a legal document that sets out what support a child or young person requires for their special educational needs. The number of EHCPs has increased each year since their introduction in 2014.
Local councils are responsible for ensuring that all needs set out in an EHC plan are met.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson admitted earlier this month that the Government needed to 'think differently' about the system of EHC plans as it is 'just not working'.
'This is not about taking away support for families or children,' she told MPs.
Ms Phillipson added: 'It is about making sure that there is much earlier identification of need and that support is put in place much more rapidly, including ahead of any formal diagnosis.'
The data published last week showed 5.3 per cent of pupils in English schools now have an EHC plan, up from 4.8 per cent last year.
There are now 1.28million pupils in English schools who receive special educational needs support without an EHC plan. That was an increase of 3.7 per cent from 2024.
The most common type of need for those with an EHC plan is autistic spectrum disorder, DfE said.
And for those with SEN support it is speech, language and communication needs.
Funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)in England is not allocated as a separate amount per pupil.
It is instead part of the overall 'dedicated schools grant' allocated to each local authority.
Council leaders have warned they are facing 'unmanageable' SEND deficits, which has left many town halls facing bankruptcy over the coming years.
Parliament's spending watchdog has also criticised the 'chaotic' system for accessing SEND support in damning report earlier this year.
The most common type of need for those with an EHC plan is autistic spectrum disorder, DfE said
Stephen Kingdom, campaign manager at the Disabled Children's Partnership, told The Times that lack of appropriate school provision was the main factor behind the rise in transport costs.
He said: 'Generally, children with Send travel further because the right provision isn't available locally.
'Transport also tends to cost more for disabled children. For example, wheelchair users may need specialist vehicles, and some neurodiverse children might require an adult to accompany them to travel safely.
'If the government gets its Send reform right … more children should be successfully educated in more local schools, which should naturally bring down the transport budgets.'