transport

[Bonkerz]

HELp. I think we have a good argument but I need help putting it properly

My son is attended a priory group school since age 8. He has a statement that has always provided transport. This school is the only one that can meet his complex needs. He is transferring to EHCP and the council have agreed the school is still the closest one that meets his needs. It's 7 miles away.
Ds turns 16 in July 2016 and the council have now said they will no longer provide transport.

This is where it gets complicated.

The council do not have a separate SelEN transport policy and state that once the pupil turns 16 they have no obligation to provide transport.
They can subsidise it for all post 16 year olds at a cost of £700 a year (we cannot afford this).
We don't qualify for free transport as we earn £4K more than cut off for help.

Ds has not sat any GCSEs yet. He has just started the curriculum and the plan is to sit them in 2017. This is due to Ds disability (autism/ADHD/ emotional disregulation and anxiety)

Because he attends a priory school (not our choice) we cannot access the gov bursary to help pay for transport. If he was at a mainstream SEN school he would qualify for this as he gets DLA.

We seem to be stuck. Through no fault of our own.

[GruntledOne]

Point out to the LA that they have a statutory duty to ensure that he receives the education provision set out in his statement/EHCP and that he won't get it unless he gets transport. Ask them what they propose to do about that. If that doesn't work, get a lawyer or SOS SEN to do a letter threatening judicial review proceedings.

But it might be better to wait till the EHCP is finalised naming the current school so that they don't change their minds about that.

[Bonkerz]

Thanks for replying.

The school
Is named and has been since Ds was 8 and he's now 15! They would struggle to find him another school now anyway!!

I've written to local MPs and now placed a formal complaint against the council. By not providing transport and by failing to look at his case individually they are putting him at a disadvantage to his peers.
There argument is that age 16 he can leave school!

[GruntledOne]

Good grief. They do realise that children can't just leave school any more at 16, don't they? And I assume they haven't bothered to read all that stuff in the Code of Practice about achieving the best possible outcomes, focussing on older children getting the right qualifications and skills to enable them to be as independent as possible?