Anna Dixon MP for Shipley, has this week highlighted Bradford Council's high daily spending on home-to-school taxi services and called for more funding for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools.
During a Westminster Hall debate on school transport for children with SEND, the Labour MP pointed out that, partly due to a lack of local SEND provisions, her constituency’s local authority currently spends over £50,000 each day on taxis for pupils.
In Bradford, the council’s Travel Assistance Service handles applications and provides home-to-school transport for children and young people. By the end of 2023, its annual budget was £14.5 million, and it currently serves over 3000 children across the city.
In her speech, Ms Dixon called the level of funding needed to ensure students with SEND could be transported to school “eye-watering”.
Nationally, local authorities spent £1.4 billion on home-to-school transport in 2022-23, an 80% real terms increase from 2015-16.
The Member of Parliament went on to state that by prioritising SEND in local mainstream schools, children could attend schools closer to their local area - improving outcomes and reducing transport costs for local authorities.
Anna Dixon MP for Shipley constituency, said: “I am delighted that this Government have brought forward an additional £1 billion in the recent Budget for SEND funding, which will go some way to covering the high costs faced by local authorities, but we know that we need to change the provision.
“In Bradford, the council’s travel assistance service spends £54,000 per day on home-to-school taxis alone. Those numbers are eye-watering.
“Only through prioritising SEND support in our mainstream local schools will we alleviate those financial pressures on local authorities, and I welcome the priority that the Government have given to that.
“The main point that has been made in this debate is that it would help all the many families in this situation if their children were in local schools. That would not only reduce expensive transport costs but improve outcomes for disabled children and their families.”
Since the debate, the new Labour government has announced £740 million of new funding to help mainstream schools across England adapt buildings for SEND pupils.