Leicester: New consultation on SEND school transport postponed

Parents of young people with special needs will be involved in a new consultation in September on plans to attract financial support for travel.

Leicester City Council will again consult with parents and schools on proposals to scrap school transport funding for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 16-19 who attend a school more three miles from home.

The authority had planned to carry out a second review in early June, but this was delayed until September due to pre-election rules.

Consultation on the decision to remove financial support was made in 2022, but some parents said they were not aware of the proposals and raised concerns about how the council was consulted on the issue.

This prompted a rethink by the city council to launch a second consultation this year, which will seek comments on a revised policy and how it will impact on parents and children.

The city’s deputy mayor, Sarah Russell, explained that the decision for a new consultation came after meetings with parents and legal advice received about the process.

Laurence Jones, the council’s director of strategy for social care and education, said: “We are only allowed to launch this consultation after the July 4 election and that would take us very close to the end of the summer term on July 12. .

“It is important that schools are involved in the consultation, so we now plan to start it in the new autumn term at the beginning of September.”

The funding was due to end in July this year, but any future changes decided after the new consultation would come into force in the 2024-25 academic year.

The city council previously said around 450 children could be affected by the change and attributed the decision to government funding cuts.

Parents have expressed concern about the proposals saying that in some cases children who have been waiting to get a place in a special school would then be unable to get to the school to take their place.

The council has previously said it is prepared to consider “exceptions” to the policy and is working on “a range of requests”.