Leeds City Council Seeks Approval from Senior Councillors to Consult on Changes to Transport Assistance for Post-16 Learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
While the council is legally required to provide free travel arrangements from home to school for eligible children of compulsory school age, it is not similarly obliged to extend transport assistance to post-16 learners. Nevertheless, the council currently offers significant discretionary support for post-16 learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
This discretionary support is currently being evaluated, with any potential modifications being gradually implemented. Changes would affect new applications starting from the 2025/26 academic year or in situations where there are changes in a learner’s circumstances, such as a change of residence or educational setting.
The purpose of the review is to foster independence by encouraging independent travel training or other travel solutions, while also addressing the council’s substantial financial challenges. Leeds City Council currently spends between £4 million and £4.5 million annually on discretionary transport assistance, with the number of recipients having doubled since 2015.
At the upcoming executive board meeting on Wednesday, 19th June, councillors will consider whether to approve a consultation on post-16 transport assistance for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). If the consultation is approved, it will span four weeks, starting later this month and concluding before the school summer break.
The findings from the consultation, along with recommendations, will be presented to the executive board in October 2024. If changes are approved, they would be implemented starting from September 2025.
Councillor Helen Hayden, executive member for children and families said:
“As an authority we remain committed to providing discretionary transport assistance for post-16 learners with special educational needs and disabilities. However, the way we currently do this is not sustainable considering the financial challenges faced by the council, and with demand for these services doubling since 2015.
“We remain committed to supporting young people who can travel independently to do so and have increased our Independent Travel Training capacity. By reviewing the way we provide discretionary assistance, we are able to focus support and available resources to those young people and families most in need.
“If approval is granted from executive board on the 19th June, we will consult with young people, their families, and partners across the city on a range of proposals to understand the effect these changes would have on them, and on other services such as Adult Social Care transport.”
The report from the Director of Children and Families, building on previous discussions by the Board, details the proposals for the ‘delivery stage’ of new arrangements concerning Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) assessment and provision in Leeds. It outlines the changes planned and the expected benefits. Additionally, the report includes the Inquiry Report from the Children and Families Scrutiny Board, which examines the current state of EHCP support in the area.
We want Leeds to be a Child Friendly City, the best city for children, young people and families and we are obsessed with reducing the number of children looked after because we know the best place for a child to be brought up is with family. We are also obsessed with increasing children and young people’s educational attainment, health and wellbeing.
We want children and young people to be in family based, stable homes, built on love, close to their local communities and networks of support. We want to provide care for our children looked after in Leeds, through our own homes and carers or in partnership with local providers.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Education, Health and Care Plans
