SEND children told to find their own way to school as Birmingham City Council axes transport

• ITV News Central's Lucy Kapasi reports on Birmingham City Council's decision to axe transport for some children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

The parents of children with special educational needs say they're being forced to choose between their jobs and their children's education after their school transport was taken away.

Up to now, Harry, who has Down's Syndrome, has taken a special minibus from his home in Sutton Coldfield to his school in Staffordshire - a 20-mile round trip.

Since the age of three, Birmingham City Council has paid for his seat on the bus.

Now he's 16 and his mother Ramandeep had to reapply, so she filled in the form alongside a friend in the same situation.

She said: "We decided two heads were better than one, so we decided to fill in the forms together which we did but they've been awarded transport via I think a taxi or a minibus and I was told Harry wasn't eligible."

• Ramandeep Kaur has appealed the council's decision and has instead been offered a personal travel budget

Ramandeep appealed and the council have now offered her a personal travel budget, But that she says has left her with an almost impossible choice as she can't see how she can hold down a job while taking so many hours out of the day to drive him to and from school.

She said: "There are two scenarios here, either I give up work, which is not something I wanted to do because I just completed a Master's and the whole point of doing that was so that I could enter the world of work or I keep my son off school and that doesn't benefit him at all."

Birmingham City Council overspent its school transport budget by £18 million last year and a number of children like Harry are now being told to find their own way to school.

In Kingstanding, another family is facing a similar situation, 10-year-old George who's autistic, really likes his current school.

It's a special school in Warwickshire and his mum Kelly Hockley says it was a battle to get him a place, but over the last two years, he's thrived.

Now she's been told instead of a private taxi she too will get a personal travel budget and like Ramandeep she doesn't see how she'll make it work with her job.

Kelly said: "It's on my mind all the time because one of the big implications is if I can't get George to school, he'll miss out on education.

"I know the local authority's response will be it's not their responsibility to ensure I can work and get other children to school.

"I can see their point but George is in a school so far away because there were insufficient places in Birmingham - that's not my fault and that's not George's fault."

• Kelly Hockley says her son is thriving at the school he currently attends and doesn't want him to miss out due to the council's decision about travel

Both families say they understand the council is in a difficult financial situation, but it shouldn't be their children that pay for it.   

The council said like all local authorities home-to-school transport is a significant budget pressure and that there had been significant growth year on year, with the number of students needing it.

"All decisions made regarding transport are made in accordance with the council’s transport policy and the national statutory guidance.

The revised Department of Education Home to School Statutory Guidance, published in June 2023, states that the general expectation is that parents will accompany their children or make other suitable arrangements for their journey to and from school.

"It states that personal working arrangements and/or other siblings would not normally be considered when making these decisions.  Therefore, if a journey is available on public transport or parents can drive their child to school, these should be considered first. 

"These options enable parents to support their child's school attendance.  Taxis and minibuses would only be considered in extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis."

It added that in future it will be offering more support in the form of a personal transport budget, rather than a a seat on a bus or taxi, as the Department of Education advise.

It added while some Local Authorities are significantly reducing provision for over 16s, it plans to continue to offer support to that age group but said it needs to ensure the service is sustainable and it will promote 'development towards independent travel as the student prepares for adulthood'.