A mother in Northern Ireland has voiced grave concerns over the Education Authority’s (EA) handling of school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), describing the system as a “lottery” and “chaotic.” Her experience highlights a potential crisis where parents might be asked to cover taxi costs, leaving vulnerable children’s safety at risk.
The EA, responsible for arranging transport for approximately 9,000 SEND children, has acknowledged that the limitations of its current approach are becoming increasingly apparent. The mother, who requested anonymity, shared her distress after her neurodiverse daughter, who also suffers from epilepsy, was initially assigned a standard bus for her commute.
A Mother’s Plea for Safety
The primary school girl’s specific needs, including sensory sensitivity, panic attacks, seizures, and occasional difficulties with walking, made a crowded bus environment entirely unsuitable and potentially dangerous. The mother had alerted the EA to these risks, providing consultant letters detailing her daughter’s requirements.
“The EA initially put my child into a bus, there is no way this could have worked,” the mother stated. “I got extremely upset by this and didn’t think they would actually sort it. It was typical EA, I have all the consultant letters, tell them exactly the needs and then, it’s a bus.”
Further compounding the issue, the mother received an email the day before school began, informing her that the bus chaperone was not epilepsy-trained. “My daughter is extremely sensory sensitive, has panic attacks and seizures. My child has problems walking at times so even getting in and out or walking to a bus and in a crowd would not be suitable at all,” she explained.
She emphasized that the failure to include specific transport needs in her daughter’s statement meant that securing appropriate travel each year felt like a gamble. “Not putting this in a statement means that every year it is the same lottery if you will get transport, or not, and is it suitable or not. Putting her onto a bus would have been a major safety concern.”
While the EA has since arranged a taxi for her daughter, the mother stressed the ongoing need for an epilepsy-trained individual to accompany her child during the journey. She also recalled a previous year where transport was not provided despite her daughter’s mobility issues, a situation she endured due to exhaustion but believes should have been addressed by the EA.
“The EA would save a lot of money and time if they worked properly and efficiently in the first place,” she added.
Wider Concerns Over SEND Transport System
Local councillor Jill Truesdale, who works with autism support groups, echoed these concerns, highlighting the risks associated with long rural bus journeys, which can sometimes extend to two hours each way.
“Parents and guardians of children with additional needs are being continually let down by EA, be it allocation of places or transport,” Councillor Truesdale stated. “These parents have to fight on a continual basis for their children and it should not be like this.”
She pointed out the unacceptable situation of transport contracts still being out for tender in the first week of the school year. “Every parent is anxious about their child returning to school, but for those who have additional needs it is even more compounding,” she said.
Councillor Truesdale cited examples of primary school children being picked up as early as 7 am for a two-hour bus journey to school, and others travelling in private taxis without escorts, which she believes puts taxi drivers in vulnerable positions.
“Year on year EA hits the news for all the wrong reasons, and it always seems to be with our most vulnerable children,” she observed.
Janet Cunningham, founder and chairperson of ADHD Hub in Newcastle, also shared her frustration. “Not finding out about transport until the last minute is incredibly difficult and nerve-wracking,” she said. “We’ve had taxi drivers introducing themselves as the new taxi driver the day before school has started. We’ve had parents being told the day before school there’s no transport. It’s chaotic and completely unnecessary.”
Education Authority’s Response and Challenges
The Education Authority confirmed it arranges transport for over 9,000 children with SEND, receiving more than 15,000 applications annually. Their website indicates that the form of transport provided is determined by pupil needs and the efficient use of available resources.
In a recent statement, the EA addressed the challenges, particularly concerning taxi contracts. Earlier in the year, contracts were reduced by £900,000, with operators asked to cut rates by 10% or risk termination. This led to difficulties, including last-minute notifications for parents.
The EA has since tendered over 1,200 school transport runs, noting an approximate 15% reduction in mileage rates. However, they acknowledged that some routes remain problematic, with “excessive rates” being charged by certain operators. The authority cited an example of a route under 20 miles receiving a bid of approximately £250 per day, equating to over £42,000 annually and more than three times the established Department for Infrastructure (DfI) taxi rates.
This situation presents the EA with a difficult choice: pay inflated rates, potentially impacting other services due to a fixed budget, or refuse, risking a child’s ability to attend school. The EA stated its immediate priority is ensuring children can attend school and has awarded these routes to the lowest bidders to maintain service continuity.
The authority plans to continue working on cost-effectiveness for taxi provision and engage with operators on routes with persistently high rates. Looking ahead, the EA warned that without improved cost-effectiveness, parental payments for transport assistance might become a necessary alternative.
“Like all publicly funded bodies, we have an obligation to continue to pursue efficiencies, particularly given our current budget shortfall and the associated potential consequences for services,” the EA concluded.
