Several issues regarding home-to-school transport for children with EHCPs (education, health, and care plans) were brought to ESPCF’s attention by members and the wider parent carer community at the end of August and early September this year.
Following this live feedback, we arranged an urgent meeting with the principal transport officer for home-to-school transport at East Sussex County Council (ESCC).
The underlying issues in almost all the concerns flagged to us stemmed from:
- Changes to arrangements: such as a different driver or passenger assistant (PA); the route and the number of other children in the vehicle; the vehicle itself e.g. changing from a car to a minibus.
- Lack of timely communication: families were not told in advance that there were changes being made to their arrangements, and instead received phone calls from taxi companies with very little notice, or in some instances received no communication at all before the beginning of term.
“Change to school transport with little consideration of our child’s needs. Last minute change of driver and no contact before the first day of term.”
There is a clear overlap between these two underlying issues. Many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle with changes, therefore clear and timely communication is vital.
“My son has ASD so needs preparing. Last year he had two taxi firms, four drivers and countless PAs. No notice of any changes. Every morning is full of anxiety about what time the taxi might arrive, who will be driving and if a new PA. Communication is poor and little if any consideration of children’s needs.”
Unfortunately, these issues are not new, and are things that ESPCF has discussed with ESCC in previous years. See the links further down this page to our previous updates and position statement.
We noted fewer concerns raised in September 2023 and so were hopeful that improvements had been made to processes; we are saddened to see this increase again.
One issue that has come up this year that we hadn’t heard as being a widespread issue before was around the number of children in vehicles. Families told us that additional children had been put in vehicles without sufficient space for everyone to travel comfortably. This can create significant sensory difficulties for some children, which may mean the transport arrangements cannot be considered as suitable.
Families have highlighted that this has also increased journey times.
Meeting with transport manager at East Sussex County Council (ESCC)
ESPCF chair, Holly Riley-Saxby, met with the home-to-school transport team manager at ESCC, Gillian Laughlin, on Friday 7th September to share the feedback (anonymous and thematic) that we’ve received. We appreciate how quickly Gillian responded to our request and made time to meet us.
The feedback we received aligns with that which the transport team have heard from families directly and Gillian was grateful to hear our feedback to help the department gauge the extent of the issues.
It was positive to hear that these issues were already firmly on Gillian’s radar, and it was acknowledged that things had not been good enough, particularly regarding communication with families. We were able to have an open, transparent conversation.
Changes to arrangements
Gillian explained that there has been a focus on ‘optimising’ routes, so contracts were as efficient and cost effective as possible. However, she stressed that this should absolutely take into account children’s needs to make sure the transport is still suitable. This is something Gillian said she would be looking into with her team.
We had heard an example from a parent who told us their son had now been squashed into the back of the taxi because there needed to be three children in the back – which wasn’t suitable for three tall teenagers, particularly with the sensory overload it was causing.
We had also heard an example of a child who had been authorised for solo travel but had been allocated a taxi with other children. This is also being looked into, to identify where along the process this was missed, and how to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.
ESPCF has since heard from some families that their concerns have been addressed and suitable arrangements have now been made. This is really good to hear, and we’re grateful to Gillian and her team for taking quick action.
The email address to raise any queries or concerns is: [email protected]
Timely communication
We were told that some of the lack of notice of changes was because of issues around the taxi companies finding or allocating PAs, because there were some journeys where the PA was collected from further away, so it was costing the company more for their time whilst there were no children yet in the vehicles. Whilst we understand that taxi companies want to be as cost effective as possible, particularly given the increase of costs across the board such as fuel, we don’t believe this should mean there is no communication at all until absolutely everything is in place. If it is known that changes are being made, this should be communicated to families earlier.
Home-to-school transport assessments
We talked about the assessment process for transport, which is done by the assessment and planning department. We also stressed the importance of listening to parents and carers during this process. Consideration should be given to how to involve parents to ensure families’ views are better embedded throughout the process. This is something we understand is being looked at in the home-to-school transport project board.
Project board
Gillian explained that there is a small group, including leads from transport and education teams, who have formed a ‘project board’. They meet monthly to try to unpick challenges around home-to-school transport and try to find new ideas and solutions.
ESPCF will be looking at whether parent carer representation in this group is possible and will be helpful, and in the meantime has asked to have sight of the project board agendas to be able to input into the most pressing or relevant matters.
In-vehicle camera recording
We asked about this because it has been raised to ESPCF by a parent carer querying whether permission is needed for in-vehicle recording, and related issues such as who could access the recording. Gillian reassured that there are strict data protection and safeguarding rules and regulations around this, such as who can access any footage, and how long it is kept for.
This is overseen by the local licencing authority (which are the borough councils, such as Eastbourne, Lewes, Wealden etc) because it is broader than home-to-school transport; many taxis have constant recording for everyone’s safety. Many families are reassured by CCTV in the vehicles, but again, communication is a huge element here; without the full information, in-vehicle recording can also feel uncomfortable or worrying.
Since our meeting
Papers have been published this week for the upcoming East Sussex County Council Cabinet meeting being held on 26th September 2024, in which home-to-school transport is included as an area of significant overspend against the budget.
The papers state that “proposals for cost avoidance are being developed”, and more specifically includes looking at “ways to reduce the number of solo taxis”.
This is potentially quite worrying. Our understanding is that solo travel would only be authorised in the first place if it would not be safe or suitable for the child’s needs to travel with other children in the vehicle. ESPCF will of course continue to highlight the importance of involving parent carers in any assessment processes, including around whether solo travel is needed or not.
The papers also say that the proposals look to “review the personal transport budget (PTB) strategy with the aim of increasing the number of more cost effective PTBs being taken up by families.”
If implemented properly – so families do not feel forced into this option where it is not appropriate – then as well as being cost-saving for the local authority, this could also be a positive development for families. We hear from families who would prefer to drive their child themselves rather than having to send them in a taxi but have said they have found it difficult to get this agreed.
Next steps
We have arranged a further meeting with Gillian this term to check-in on arrangements and ensure there are no ongoing issues. We encourage parent carers to keep in touch with us about how things are going with their child’s transport and alert us to any problems – as well as letting us know if everything is going smoothly, as this is good to know.
Click the links below to read our previous transport updates:
Contact us
0300 770 1367
Complete our general feedback form (this opens an MS Form which can be submitted anonymously)