School transport costs too high, say councillors

The amount being paid by a council on home-to-school transport is "unsustainable", councillors have heard.

The service, along with social care, is among the biggest drains on Worcestershire County Council resources.

The local authority's children and families overview and scrutiny panel heard on Monday that local authorities will be spending £2.6bn nationally by 2027-28 on getting children to school if there is no significant change to national policy.

Home-to-school transport cost the council £29 million last year, and £35m has been set aside in next year's draft budget.

Councils are required by law to provide free transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who are unable to walk to school.

Councillor Alastair Adams said it appeared the council was spending too much on taxis.

"It was first flagged to us in November 2022 that there was a pressure on home-to-school transport, purely because of SEND," he said.

"The budget for 2023/24 was £21m. We were £9m over budget at the end of last year.

"From my quick calculations, it's over £1.5m a month we're spending on taxis."

Paul Smith, assistant director of highways and transport operations at the council, said: "Budget setting is key. Predicting transport growth and the impacts of that is really difficult.

"In terms of individual contracts, they can vary tremendously."

Mr Smith said the figures related not just to taxi contracts but also to mainstream home-to-school transport, including public transport.

"There is an increase in taxis," he admitted, "and that's partly about where the child lives. But we're really good at route optimisation. What we can't do is mitigate where the child lives and the setting it needs to go to."

Adam Johnston, strategic director for children's services, said councils across the country, including Worcestershire, had lobbied their MPs on the matter.

"This position is unsustainable locally, it's unsustainable nationally, and essentially there needs to be reform in the system. The indications are that reform will come."

David Chambers, cabinet member for education, said: "The previous government did not fund this correctly despite our lobbying, and we're now taking it up with the current government.

"We are doing everything we possibly can."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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