UK government warned SEND reforms leave ‘unanswered questions’
Proposed reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system leave critical questions about home-to-school transport and council shortages unanswered, MPs have warned.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the government to urgently explain how it plans to support councils facing ongoing SEND deficits and the high costs of transporting children to school by taxis, buses and buses.
The intervention comes after ministers announced sweeping reforms to the SEND system, which aim to make the system more inclusive for children with additional needs and reduce costs for local authorities in the long term.
But an investigation by MPs found these plans did not meet the significant cost pressures arising from home-to-school transport. PAC member Rachel Gilmour said MPs were pleased the government was “starting to grasp the nettle that is the SEND emergency”.
“But such a chronic and serious problem requires a response that will leave no questions unanswered for children and families,” he added.
“Unfortunately, our research has identified too many glaring systems for home-to-school transport – a problematic system for parents on which parents spend billions of dollars a year – that is not included in the government’s latest announcements.”
90 per cent of councils’ high needs deficits accrued by this year will be erased and SEND costs will be managed within the general Government budget from 2028.
The PAC said this left councils uncertain about what would happen to any deficits that arise between now and 2028.
The new funding arrangements do not cover transportation costs from home to school.
The County Councils Network estimates that councils transported a record 206,000 children and young people up to the age of 25 to school with SEND last year, at a cost of £2bn.
A report by the National Audit Office last year found councils in England spent £415 million more than budgeted on home-to-school transport in 2023/24, with total spending rising by 70 per cent from 2015/16 to then.
The Department for Education (DfE) is relying heavily on SEND reforms to tackle problems with home-to-school transport because the reforms aim to make local schools more inclusive, which should reduce the need to move children with SEND to more distant schools, MPs said.
Even if they were successful in doing so, the PAC’s report said it would likely take some time for the savings to be realized and called for the DfE to set a time when the savings would start to be made.
MPs also said the DfE did not understand how transport access affects attendance or how difficult it is for parents to navigate the home-to-school transport system, especially when their children are over 16.
The committee’s research found that the decline of local bus services, especially in rural areas, has reduced travel options and increased dependence on the municipality to provide home-to-school transportation.
The MPs said: “The move to local bus franchising, where local authorities decide on routes, timetables and fares for local services, offers the opportunity to replace expensive contracts with lower-cost alternatives.”
The report said the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government had set out details of how home-to-school transport would be funded, but did not specify how it would monitor whether this was successful.
District Councils Network SEND spokesman Cllr Bill Revans said the network estimates councils could spend £3.4bn on transport for SEND schools by 2030 if there are no changes.
“Fortunately, the government’s SEND reforms have real potential to contain these costs if fully implemented as outlined last month,” he said.
But Mr Revans added that even if the reforms made a difference, district and rural councils would face greater financial pressures from transporting students longer distances.
“In total, county areas face an £11bn funding black hole, with school transport costs also a major factor. We’re calling on the government to take another look at what support it can give to county authorities facing the biggest transport bills,” he said.
