Home to school transport charges for special educational needs students mooted by South Tyneside Council

Proposals for the future of ‘home to education’ transport for post-16 South Tyneside SEND learners will be discussed by South Tyneside Council’s cabinet of senior councillors next week (March 19, 2025).

Although there is no requirement for the council to offer free or subsidised provision for SEND young people, the local authority has historically fully subsided all post-16 SEND transport, paying for young people to travel to their place of education free of charge.

Due to increasing pressures on the post-16 transport service and budget overspends, the council is proposing that some families pay a “contribution charge” towards travel costs.

For these families, the council states it would continue to partly subsidise post-16 SEND transport, paying for over 80 per cent of the cost of the service.

The proposed changes, due to come in later this year subject to cabinet approval, would see certain families making a financial contribution equating to “£1,069.20 per child per year”, which the council states is equivalent to the cost of an annual all zone Nexus travel card.

The contribution charge would be means-tested and low-income families and those eligible for free school meals would still pay nothing, the council has said.

A report due to be presented to cabinet next week states there are 170 students in receipt of free transport and that a number would be exempt from the proposed contribution charge, as they are linked to the “adult transport duty” or eligible for free school meals.

The new charge is expected to impact around 105 learners and, according to cabinet papers, would create a potential annual saving / income of more than £100,000 for the local authority which aims to improve the effectiveness of the post-16 transport service.

South Tyneside is one of the only local authorities regionally and nationally that still fully funds home to education transport for eligible post-16 SEND learners but the council states that due to rising costs, current arrangements are unsustainable.

Learners affected by the new contribution charge in South Tyneside would be supported on a case-by-case basis and, where possible, supported to travel independently via public transport or active travel methods such as cycling or walking, rather than by taxi.

Councillor Liz McHugh, cabinet member for children and families social care and education and skills, said the proposals were about “maintaining a safe and effective post-16 SEND transport service for those who need it, while encouraging greater independence among our young people attending sixth form or college”.

The councillor added that she had worked on a similar transport programme previously and found that public transport had helped young people to “learn vital skills” and also “fit in with the community”.

“It’s about targeting our resources towards those who need it the most and reshaping services in a way that also helps to prepare and support our over-16 SEND young people as they move into adulthood,” she added.

“We encourage all our children to travel independently where possible, whether by walking, cycling or using public transport.

“Learning to be more independent is an extremely important step on the journey to adulthood, not just for travel to school or college but to social and community activities and training and work opportunities in the future.

“Without this, many of our SEND young people would leave college or school with little to no experience of independent travel at the same time of council support naturally ceasing at the age of 18, or 25 in some cases.”

Senior council officers for children’s services at South Tyneside Council have said there are various actions and proposals being explored to “broaden the horizons” of SEND children and young people.

One of the ways the council supports is through its enhanced independent travel training (ITT) offer which aims to help more SEND young people gain the confidence and skills needed to travel safely and independently with friends and peers, as well as offering more choice over modes of transport.

Since the council’s ITT programme began in 2023, around 177 young people have been trained, with an additional 29 being trained each week.

Chris Rue, head teacher of Epinay School in South Shields, which supports children and young people from 4–18 years of age with a wide range of special educational and complex needs, said many students had already seen the benefits.

“It goes a long way to boosting self-esteem and resilience, empowering our young people to develop those important life-long skills to travel independently to school and beyond, now and in future,” he said.

“Of course, we know this is not right for all young people and we continue to provide more specialist support for those with the highest needs where the barriers to independent travel are more complex.”

Additional financial support is also available for those families who would be required to pay the contribution charge.

There are 139 young people currently accessing personal transport budgets which provide help towards home to education transport costs, and bursaries are also available for those in vulnerable groups, along with support from some colleges and training providers.

The contribution charge proposals come following a council consultation exercise held last autumn (2024), which saw almost 200 responses with a large majority of responses from parents of school-aged children with “identified SEND needs” and “currently in receipt of home to school transport”.

According to council documents, respondents were asked whether the proposals on post-16 charges were “fair and reasonable” and 37 respondents answered ‘yes’, 121 answered ‘no’ and the remainder answered ‘maybe’.

South Tyneside Council states it will continue to support families to identify the most appropriate means of transport and “best solution” for learners and maintains there will not be any “unreasonable expectations” placed on individuals.

Cllr McHugh stressed that the council would “work with the young people and their families and wants the best for their future.”

“We have been working hard to target support to those who need it the most to help reduce inequalities and make things fairer, this is another example of that,” she added.

“We would only be asking families to pay around a sixth of the cost of the service. The remainder of the costs would continue to be met by the council.

“Paying to provide a service that we are not required to fund has created additional financial pressures for the council over time.

“The introduction of a contribution charge will help to meet the increased costs of home to education transport linked to the increased number of students with education, health and care plans and the increased demand for specialist provision both in and out of the borough.

“We have already brought in a range of changes to home to school transport by working with schools and families to provide shared transport arrangements, promoting independence and increased travel training.

“Children with the most significant needs would always require accompanied transport.”

The council states the rising costs of education transport and pressures on council budgets have been recognised by Central Government as a national issue linked to financial pressures and increased demand within the SEND system more generally.

South Tyneside Council is one of a small number of councils which fully funds post-16 SEND home to education transport and many councils require a contribution either in full, or in part, towards the cost of provision of taxi transport.

In the academic year 2023/24, 170 post-16 South Tyneside students were transported to education (primarily by taxi), at an overall cost of around £848,617 with an average spend of around £6,194 per student.

The council states that of the 170 students currently in receipt of free transport, 35 (aged 19-25) are exempt under the ‘adult transport duty’ and a further 30 would be exempt from paying any form of contribution charge under the eligibility criteria for free school meals.

The potential saving / income for the remaining 105 pupils would be at around £112,266.

If approved by cabinet next week, the new contribution charge arrangement would come into effect from September, 2025.

South Tyneside Council’s cabinet will discuss the proposals and agree next steps at a meeting on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

The cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place at The Word in South Shields and will start at 10am. Details can be found via the council’s website.

Cabinet members will also be asked to defer a decision on proposals for centralised pick-up points for young people attending the same educational provision, with a view to undertaking further consultation this year.