Hampshire home-to-school SEND transport budget under threat

Almost a million pounds is to be cut from the budget for getting children with special needs to and from school.

Hampshire County Council currently picks up 12,000 youngsters from their homes and transports them to their place of education.

The council wants to save £986,000 by using dedicated pick-up and drop-off points allowing multiple children to be taken on single journeys.

Parents have voiced opposition to the move, to be discussed next week.

Steve Crocker, director of children's services, said the changes would allow for "route planning and vehicle use to utilise the efficiencies provided by increased use of collective pick-up points and multiple destinations".

"There is no statutory requirement for home-to-school transport to be a door-to-door service or to provide for individual establishments.

"Parents can be asked to accompany their child to and from a collection point," he said, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A public consultation, which ran from January until March, received 945 responses - with 71% being against the use of pick-up and drop-off points.

Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) cited concerns over stress and anxiety, particularly with how children deal with changes to routines and the exposure to busy roads.

Aimee White, from Fareham, previously said her daughter, who is a wheelchair user and autistic, had an "amazing" relationship with her regular bus driver and escort who picked her up each morning.

"She gets huge anxiety over school - having them help gets her through the anxiety

"On the bus it's like a family - they all know each other personally. Without that I don't know what we'll do."

Mr Crocker said the plans recognised a need to support the development of road safety skills of children and young people with SEND.

A "strengths-based approach" would help prepare them for adulthood and "facilitate increased independence", he said.

The report will go before the children and young people select committee on Tuesday before a final decision is made.

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