Nov 11, 2020, Bucks Herald: Rise in special educational needs demand puts additional pressures on Bucks school transport costs
SE England
Rising demand from the families of children with special educational needs (SEN) is putting greater strain on Buckinghamshire Council its deputy leader has warned.
Steven Broadbent said: “There is increased volume and some increased timing issues that mean the service works increasingly under pressure. There are big volumes involved.”
The cabinet member provided the update on the service and its rising costs during a meeting of the transport, environment and climate change select committee.
His report said the council’s home to school transport budget of £33.5 million [$43M] for the 2024 to 2025 financial year faced a shortfall of £3.8 million [$4.9M].
Much of the deficit was put down to higher numbers of SEN students and those at pupil referral units, as well as greater numbers of pupils being taken to mainstream school.
The council has a statutory duty to help SEN pupils get to school as one of the groups of school age children eligible for assistance. . . .
An increasing number of children and young people now have EHCPs in Buckinghamshire, rising by 24 per cent from 5,700 in 2022 to 7,087 in 2024.
Councillor Broadbent said the growth in the numbers of SEN pupils represented a ‘significant uptick’ the council must accommodate.
He said: “That continues to be the case because in the last 10 years, we have had a 114 per cent increase – more than a doubling of children – who have an EHCP. . . .
Councillor Broadbent said the council was ‘turning over every stone’ in looking at how to provide home to cost-effective school transport.. . .
He added: “The problem is all that work, that saving, is swallowed up by the ‘front door’ with more and more demand on the services of pupils who are eligible, and it is a statutory duty of ours to meet those needs.”
