What am I supposed to do RE School?

[Soubriquet]

We no longer have a car. We cannot afford to replace it either which means we can no longer get the dc to school.

dd has council transport but it’s from the local town rather than our actual destination, which means she has to get the 7am bus, to get into town, in order to catch her 8am bus to school. Then the reverse happens and she doesn’t get home will gone 5. Purely because of the times plus it’s going to cost us £15 a week!!

ds on the other hand is still at primary school and his school is not in any form of walking distance, nor is there a bus that goes that way. The council has also declined us for transport (which I will appeal) because it’s not the nearest school. I’m aware it isn’t the nearest but he’s in year 6! Am I really supposed to transfer schools for 5 months, fork out for new uniforms, and uproot a child who is on the ECHP and SEN plan at his school? Where they know how to handle him?

It’s a bloody nightmare. He’s been absent the last two days because we genuinely cannot get him to school!!

We are in the process of talking to both schools to see if we can come up with a solution

Some people can’t get a loan it’s not that simple !

@sittingonabeach thank you, its been a while since mine were in school. Not entirely sure of the rules re distance now

That sucks 🙁

Would you be eligible for motability @Soubriquet

In the short term are there any school parents who may be able to pick your son up / drop him off? Petrol money would likely be cheaper than a taxi.

Your daughter sounds like she has a way to school, even if it’s not the most convenient. Are there any bus passes for the local bus that might reduce the cost at all? Though £15/week actually sounds on the cheaper end of commuting costs.

Are you living very rurally away from main town/village? What are the pavements like for walking?

No we don’t work. Both of us are disability benefits. I get PIP, ESA and UC.

Dh gets UC, and is in the process of sorting out PIP and ESA (he’s only recently been signed off)

Are you claiming everything you are entitled to?

If you get DLA higher rate mobility for your son can you get a motability car?

If you’ve really exhausted all options I think you need to speak to citizens advice and then social services.

That's why I asked "could you?".
It was a question...not an order.

Do you get higher rate mobility for your PIP award?

This, are either you or dh entitled to a mobility car?

Presumably that's why @Needmorelego said "Could you get a loan?". It's not an unreasonable question - there's no magic answer to this problem, and there's relatively little info been given by the OP, so we can expect people to want to try and exhaust every suggestion.

If you get higher rate mobility for pip you can exchange this for a motability car.

i recently got my first motability car (seriously physically disabled) and it was a helpful and relatively easy process.

obviously you lose the money from the pip.

I’m gonna make an appointment with CA today and make sure we are getting everything we can and see if they can make a suggestion regarding transport.

Thank you

Do you get any benefits for your son?

Also what happened to your car? You may be entitled to a refund from insurance etc for the rest of the year if you had paid annually. And if the car is broken down someone might still buy it, not for much but it is a ‘thing’ I guess they use it for parts.

@Soubriquet I hope you find a solution 💐
Would you qualify for an emergency fund via your UC (I have no idea if such a thing exists - but if one does that might help).

Yes this.

What does @Soubriquet mean when you say you can’t afford a new car?

Most people don’t buy cars in cash these days. Find yourself a basic 4 year old hatchback on PCP and it will cost you about £110/month

Is there a local parent who drives? If so, you might be able to provide a favour a favour, ie they give your DS a lift, you have theirs if there's a snow day/or maybe the odd Saturday/Sunday so they're free to get on with practical things. A local Mum would occasionally take DD to school, but return I'd have her DC if school was closed as she worked school hours.

Yeah, cause everyone can just lay their hands on a spare £110 🙄

Well, eventually they are your kids and not the government's kids. It shouldn't be on a taxpayer to fund your children's trips to school.

A electric cargo bike?

otherwise the solution is walking and getting the bus. Sometimes it’s like that for a bit when things are lean until you have some money saved.

you keep saying what you can’t do.

take a car or council out of the equation. What are your options within your current budget?

If they are at the nearest school it kinda is....

Well they're not so

Perhaps I should have said "nearest appropriate school" .
The son is at a school named in his ECHP so that's his appropriate school.
She hasn't said the secondary isn't the catchment/nearest one.