SEN Transport question (posted here for traffic)

[WeywardCrow]

Hi all,

DS is 13 and has diagnoses of ASD, SPD, anxiety and depression. He has an EHCP which names a school we are reasonably happy with.

The issue is that the Transport being provided to and from school is completely unsuitable and I wondered if anyone had any words of advice? We live in South Norfolk and DS is picked up at 7.40am. He goes via the east of Norwich to pick up child A and then via a town in the Broads to pick up child B. Yesterday was the first day of his new route. He was in the car for about 4 hours in total and by the time he got home was very distressed, felt car sick and was just exhausted. It was incredibly difficult to get him into the cab this morning. Again picked up at 7.40 and arrived 20 minutes late to school at 9.20.

The Transport team have said he just needs to be picked up even earlier which we just can’t agree to. DS is beside himself and exhausted and we know from last year when he was picked up just before 8 that he was just about able to manage that.

What on earth do we do? I know the 75 minute maximum travel time is just a guideline but does anyone know what legislation/case law this is based on? Anyone got any idea how best to address this? I suspect we just won’t be able to get him to school again until the route is made shorter again. Which means the LA funding additional transport but that really is not something I can do anything about.

(And just as a mini rant, dear god, but I have two autistic kids who attend different specialist schools and how the fuck I keep other aspects of my life going as well as making sure they get some sort of an education is a chuffing mystery to me)

Thanks for any words of advice/support.

I was in this situation a few years ago.
I made an appeal to school transport, I used emails from school to evidence their dysregulated behaviour on arrival at school and outlined my morning so the panel could see how unreasonable it was.

We were put on another route with direct taxi rather than going around the houses.

Thank you. This is really useful. I will read your reply carefully and go back re the guidance.

Councils are shockingly underfunded. But the answer isn’t to deprive disabled children and their families of the services to which they’re entitled.

Exactly.

Ideally no but the level of demand has increased to such a level that they can’t actually meet it any more. Labour have said there’s no more money.

The pick up time is normal for where I live if not a little late. Here children who get the bus leave around 7.15 maybe 7.30 and SEN transport around 7.30. Do your schools just start really late?
the time in the transport is not acceptable however I would be firmly telling the team it's not acceptable.

@Blueybanditbingochilli I’m sure money could be found if there were a real will to address the problem.
These kids have a right to education, and to receive it, they need to be there!

Dla wouldn't touch the sides of transport costs and how can she take her himself if she is working and it's a 2 hour round trip 2 x a day

Seriously it's utterly shit having a child with SN and no one wants this life . We are all doing our best for our children and it shouldn't be a secret that taxis are an option !

He is getting there though. I appreciate it’s taking longer than OP would like but they live very rurally. Unfortunately sometimes there are compromises to be made. I feel like nobody ever mentions the elephant in the room, which is the scary cost of all this and the effect it’s having on wider society. I just wondered if there was another way round it which doesn’t require the council spending literally thousands a month on a private taxi.

Do you have a child who requires SEND transport, @Blueybanditbingochilli ?
The OP’s child is distressed by the transport currently being provided, which will affect his ability to attend school. You wouldn’t accept that for a non-disabled child - why should this child be subjected to it?

The effect it has on wider society! Are you a member of Warwickshire county council by any chance?

I’m posting from the perspective of a parent who spends 2 hours a day driving to and from school because of a situation like the OP’s, except we’re in London. We have a strong case for tribunal, I believe, but just don’t have the energy left to pursue it at the moment.

It isn’t about what OP would like. It is about what her DS needs.

Surprise, surprise you think compromises must begin with disabled people by limiting disability benefits, carer benefits, EHCPs and SEN transport.

They're really not. When they are going bankrupt it's usually because of major project failures: e.g. IT, property. If anything the strain in my council is funding accommodation for homeless people. It's certainly not SEND transport.

I fought for provision within the local school for this very reason. They wanted dd to go to specialist provision across the county, at hour so I refused and got a bespoke arrangement, former supply cupboard at back of office, laptop and teachers set work plus 1 hour 1:1. She could take a normal city bus covered by her free disabled bus pass!

Absolutely not! Lol. I’m not trying to be unkind but I feel like this is one of those issues where nobody is allowed to mention it, and it will just spiral until it reaches a point it really impacts everyone. Our council spends so much on social care our streets are filthy and overgrown, bins have been boarded up to avoid emptying them, the town is a mess really. Could OP move closer to the school? Reduce hours and drive him herself even a couple of days a week? Investigate lift shares?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/kirklees-cost-cutting-measures-agreed-for-unsustainable-send-student-transport/ar-BB1lmzr2?recoid=traffic&apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

This was only published yesterday. Across the country £1.4 billion is spent on this transport.

Councils are indeed having to make swinging cuts.

But that does not let them off the hook about the services where there is a definite duty to provide services in line with the statutory guidance for that service.

OP is not demanding "more" - she is seeking an adequate version of a service to which her DC is fully entitled ie for it to be delivered within spitting distance of the required standard

We're also in Norfolk (though don't currently get transport as near school). I second getting your local Councillor and MP involved. We're doing something similar for a different SEND issue. As for the issue of funds, there's certainly a whole load of wastage of money on ineffectual services, rather than essentials, such as getting a child to school, which should be addressed by Children's Services.

Have you contacted SENTAS? They are travel experts

@Blueybanditbingochilli Do you have a disabled child? Do you have any idea of the effect having a child with high care needs has on the earning ability, health and mental well-being of carers? Getting the child to and from school safely every day is the fucking least a civilised society should be providing.

But he isn’t entitled to a private taxi. He’s entitled to transport which he is getting. I do understand it’s a long journey (I made a similar one to school), but could OP look at what she could do to help before asking a stretched council to spend thousands a month on a taxi? I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

He is safe.

Yes, he has transport, but he is entitled to suitable transport that gets him to school in a state in which he’s able to learn. That’s in the statutory guidance.

School Transport is a statutory provision. A secondary school child who attends their nearest suitable school (and in most cases, a school which is named in an EHCP is is the nearest suitable school by virtue of being named in the EHCP), and who lives 3 miles or more away from that school (or 2 miles if in receipt of Pupil Premium) is entitled to free, suitable transport.

The OP doesn't need to 'think of solutions'. The transport department do.