To be OUTRAGED at the cost of this school transport?

[FidgetyFingers]

DS attends a Special School which requires him to use a LA provided school bus as it is too far for him to reach alone (SEN and 3 mile distance ) and he cannot be dropped off due to logistics (other DC need to be in a different place at same time, only have one car which is needed for DH to work).

Up until age 16 it is provided free but as 16-18 years apparently don't legally have to continue in education, the LA will not provide free transport so expect us to pay a 'contribution' of £25 per week! If I can't magic up £300 for the first term in advance, he won't be picked up! This is on top of all the normal back to school outgoings.

Considering a weekly unlimited bus ticket is £10 a week if he was going to college like his brother, AIBU to think this is extortionate?

I asked the LA to explain how they expect parents of SN children to have a greater income just because they have turned 16 and they couldn't explain other than to state 'policy'.

Why was my post deleted?
I quoted another post and said that the current state of post 16 transport funding is across the board and from central government.

Never had a post deleted before. How odd.

''The situation of those of you with NT post-16s is not the point.''

This,

two very different worlds apart.

FatCow2018
Careful, I said it's across the board and got deleted.

@clairetree1 how long does it take you to walk 3 miles?

He can get ESA but it means that things like child tax credit and child benefit stop so it is sometimes not the best option.

No 6th form student gets free transport to college / school

I'm surprised by this statement. I'm in Scotland and both my children had free travel to school (over 3 miles) until they left in their 6th year, one at 18.5 and one at 17.5.

The children who attend special schooling also get free taxi/minibus travel until they leave, which is often at 19.

It's free for the 16-19 age group at my son's special school.(England). I think the LA don't want a situation where parents push for a residential placement at the school.

It is totally unhelpful to compare the situation faced by the OP and her son to someone travelling to sixth form college. I think the thread should be moved to one of the special needs boards where posters will offer helpful practical support.

Do you have ring and ride?

I realise it is not the answer you are looking for but it would be much cheaper.

Yes, but they have more options for school attendance. The OP's child has to go to this school in order for the LA to meet their legal obligations to educate him.

Fair point Peng, I never considered that factor.

I totally agree op, I have a dd 11 who has ASD, learning difficulties, spd, high anxiety, I thank god she has transport to special school. I don't drive, and dh works different hours (8am-6pm), so could not transport dd. I have a ds who also has SN, and goes to mainstream school. So can't be in two places at once, without one being very late for school, and pick up.

I think what people fail to realise, is that with children who have moderate to severe SN, they will not be able to do the things that children without can do, that is walk to school or get the bus to school and college by themselves, and need transport to access education. I believe it is a legal requirement for LEAs to provide transport for school age children quite rightly with EHCPs, SN as they are not able due to their disability to access their local schools, and need to go to one that can meet their needs.

As I am able to, I would be happy to contribute towards dds transport, and ds if he needs to go to another school that best meets his needs, but there are those like op, that might not be able to. This is unfair on the child.

I am learning to drive btw, but its a slow process due to my anxiety, and dyspraxia.

I would follow Guinne's suggestion - seek legal aid on DC's behalf and judicial review (high court action) against your LA. Afaik, there are two organisations with a franchise for legal aid in education law in England:

Simpson Millar - a top ranked firm of education solicitors, who also have a franchise for legal aid in community care law (useful in cases where social care and education are intertwined). Social care can pay for transport for SEN students, where they have a personal budget or just pay it generally.

The Coram Children's Legal Centre

Its means tested, but as the legal aid is for DC, who assuming he only has his benefits, and no other assets or income, will qualify. You act as his friend in litigation, as it is unlikely he will be able to instruct the lawyers himself. Sometimes a pre-action protocol letter (you will have to pay for this yourselves, I am afraid, but its the first stage - after that, everything is done on legal aid) from a firm of solicitors is enough to spur a LA into action. LAs do not legal aid, and the thought of the legal costs of a high court action may concentrate their minds.

Realistically, paralegals do most of the preliminary work on an education legal aid case, because legal aid rates are so low - but they are working under supervision of solicitors. If it got to the high court, a barrister would be used.

If you speak to one of the legal advisors at either of the above organisations, and they agree to take on DC's case, they will tell you that you have to go through the Civil Legal Aid gateway - they check DC's eligibility for legal aid, and then put you back in touch with the legal advisors.

The chief executive of SOS!SEN is Eleanor Wright. She was always ranked for years, by the Legal 500 or Chambers, as one of the top education solicitors, until she went to work for SOS!SEN. I believe that sometimes she will do a pre-action protocol letter for parents, cheaper than the education solicitors above. (I have only heard this on the grapevine, as I went to Simpson Millar myself, last time I had to seek judicial review against my LA).

(She did a pre-action protocol letter to my LA on behalf of some other parents about SEN transport)

If DC gets DLA/PIP, then he can claim ESA as a disabled student - unless you live in a universal credit area. This means he does not have to go through a work capability assessment. I believe the basic rate for on ESA support is £110 per week - so it is worth giving up child benefit to claim ESA. You can claim carer's allowance, which is about £62 per week. However, I do not know how it impacts on child tax credits.

IF DC gets DLA/PIP and ESA as a disabled student, then his school/FE college can claim a bursary worth £1,200 per year. Its up to them how they spend it; but they might for instance buy him equipment like a laptop or I Pad with software to help with his learning.

As for people who say SEN students over 16, can never get transport - DD got her transport paid for until she was 22. Education paid for her through school. It was accepted that her specialist FE college was the only placement that could meet her SEN, and as Guienne said, the LA had to pay for the transport, because otherwise she could not access her education and she could not possible use public transport. Education would have paid, but Social Services offered to pay (we never had direct payments or a personal budget, as I don't want them), so I took Social Services up on it.

I agree, comparing somebody like op ds, who has a disability that warrants him going to a special school, to your NT 16 year old, who has not got the issues and difficulties that op ds has, is unfair and not helpful. Unlike your neurotypical 16 year old, he will not be able to travel independently without being accompanied by a responsible adult. He will not have the same level of independence and his education options will be limited.

I can't understand where the number comes from. £25 a week? It seems like you're subsidizing the cost for the LA.

"However, I do not know how it impacts on child tax credits."

If the young person receives ESA the parent stops receiving child tax credits including any child disability premium.

It is completely shit. However transport is an enormous cost to the LA and has been seen by commissioners as one of the more palatable cuts to education funding generally.

The phone number for the legal aid telephone gateway referred to above is 0345 345 4 345. You can specifically ask for whichever you prefer out of the two firms with legal aid contracts.

Yes PP are right, this is the same for every child post 16, not just those wuth SEN. Its not great but it's got to be done. I'll have 3 of them at £300 a term, wonderful!

Fatcow, the point is that it's not the same for every child post 16. Non-disabled children post 16 have a much wider choice of colleges and college courses, and are also much more likely to be able to travel independently. OP's child can only go to the special school named in the EHCP, and cannot travel independently on public transport.

All these comments of can’t they walk, cycle is so ridiculous and insulting, I would love for my 15year old to be able to walk or cycle to school, but she has such severe disabilities that she can’t step outside the front door without one to one help. We live only 2 miles from her special school but without transport it may as well be 100 miles, if I lived at the school gates I would still have to assist her to her classroom, so comparing children with SN to NT chuildren is unbelievable.
My local authority has taken the decision to scrap all post 16 transport from next year and can do this as it has no legal responsibility to transport post 16 so from sept next year my dd will not be able to access education even though she has an ehcp. And I’m sorry to say that the pressure that this will put on families like mine will be catastrophic.

"21. Young people with an EHC plan will have an institution named in their plan at Section I. There is no entitlement to transport to and from this named provider and transport should only be named in an EHC plan in exceptional circumstances. Local authorities should ensure during EHC plan discussions that parents are made aware that transport support will be considered in accordance with the local authority’s own post-16 transport policy."

I don't know how successful a legal challenge would be. Does this extract from the government policy document (October 2017) mean that they're allowed to do this?

Rainy, out of context that quote is quite misleading. There is certainly no automatic right for children with SEN to have transport to the school named in the EHCP, and it shouldn't be in the EHCP anyway as it isn't normally educational provision. However, there is a separate right under the Education Act 1996 for children who cannot get to school by reason of their disabilities to have transport, and also for those who live more than three miles away.

The Education Act right only applies to those of statutory school age, which is why post 16 transport is said to be discretionary, but the reality is that if a young person post 16 can't access the special educational provision in their EHCP without transport then it must be provided.

@rosie39forever, the fact that local authorities have a discretion in relation to post 16 transport absolutely does not mean that they have carte blanche to abolish it. They have to exercise that discretion reasonably taking into account their duties under the Equality Act 1996, and they also have to follow Dept for Education guidance which says they have to take into account the needs of disabled students. Also, as explained upthread, if they leave your daughter in the situation where she is unable to access education and the provision in her EHCP they will certainly be breaking the law.

I'd suggest you and other families in your position contact people like IPSEA or one of the lawyers' firms currently involved in successful challenges against unlawful LA education policies, Simpson Millar or Irwin Mitchell. You could get legal aid in your child's name. Also contact SENTAS (link above) or SOS SEN for further help in relation to your child's specific circumstances.

Its normal here (kent) for all 6th formers to have to pay for own transport - the argument is that those who commute to grammar schools could go to a local all abiity school. We were paying £500 per term for a 10 minute train journey. I don't think you should have to pay though, will your MP take it up for you? There can't be that many children who it affects.

It's shit but the same for all children when they turn 16. Your Child however is in a particularly unlucky predicament.
As it is a government policy issue, you should write to your MP.