Feb 15, 2022, Isle of Thanet News: Upset for families still waiting to hear about changes to Special Educational Needs school transport https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2022/02/15/upset-for-families-still-waiting-to-hear-about-changes-to-special-educational-needs-school-transport/
SE England
Parents whose children use Special Educational Needs (SEN) home-to-school transport say they have no idea who will be driving their children, when they will be picked up or if travel arrangements are suitable for their youngsters needs due to changes in the service and a failure to keep them updated.
From February 21 there will be changes to the school transport service for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as Kent County Council arranges new transport contracts to replace those that are coming to an end. …
Kent County Council says issues have been caused a 20% rise in the number of children eligible for the SEN service, increased costs and a shortage of bus and taxi drivers….
Parents using the SEND transport service were notified in December that changes would be made and contracts put out to tender. They were due to be informed of the results in January but this was then put back to February 11. However, that deadline has been missed for some families who are still in the dark about their children’s transport arrangements from next term….
County Councillor Karen Constantine (Lab) said: “It goes without saying that SEND transport is extremely important for both parents and carers and the children concerned….
“At the budget meeting they reluctantly accepted that their own Government had underfunded the authority by £7m [$10M] and we were warned that further savings of between £15-£20m [$20-$27M] could be required. These cuts should not come from services designed to support the most vulnerable in our society.”
‘No decrease in funding’
Kent County Council says it is “deeply sorry for the anxiety and worry that our delay in contacting some (parents) is causing.”…
“There has been no decrease in the funding this year for SEN transport. However there has been a 20% rise in the number eligible for the SEN service, which means we are now having to support hundreds more to make their journeys to school and college….
On KCC’s website is says: “We expect demand for school transport to continue to grow during the next year, resulting in more eligible pupils needing school transport places. This means we may need to make further changes from the start of the new school year in September 2022 to provide school transport for pupils.”
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