"The County Councils Network (CCN) said its analysis showed that without significant system reform local authorities would be transporting 100,000 additional pupils a city's worth of young people to school by the end of the decade. It is calling on the government to introduce a national means-testing policy so families above a specified income threshold would be required to make a financial contribution to home-to-school transport."
"However, campaigners warned that means testing risked locking disabled children and young people out of education altogether. Anna Bird, the chair of the Disabled Children's Partnership and the chief executive of the charity Contact, said: School transport should be based on a child's need and not what their parents earn. Transporting disabled children to school is far more complicated than for their non-disabled peers. Means testing transport doesn't just balance budgets it risks locking disabled children and young people out of education altogether."
Councils in England propose means-testing for school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities to curb unsustainable demand and rising costs. Analysis by the County Councils Network estimates home-to-school transport costs could rise from £2bn to £3.4bn by 2030–31 and would require transporting an extra 100,000 pupils by the decade's end without major reform. Proposals include a national income threshold requiring higher-earning families to contribute, sensitive phased implementation, revising statutory walking-distance eligibility (two miles under eight; three miles eight and over), annual transport reviews promoting independence, and clear messaging that individual taxi provision is a last resort. Campaigners warn means testing risks excluding disabled pupils from education.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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