North Yorkshire holds special needs transport consultations

North Yorkshire County Council is holding a series of consultations on changes to its home to school transport policy for those with special educational needs or disabilities.

The consultations will continue through to late March.  They follow a decision by the county council’s Executive to consult on a number of options to secure savings and bring about a fair and sustainable service.

Unlike the majority of councils in England, North Yorkshire has continued to provide discretionary home to school transport for free for post 16 young people with special needs or disabilities.  However, as the county council faces the prospect of long term austerity, tough decisions lie ahead and it must find ways of making necessary savings while trying to minimise any negative impact on services.

So far, out of £152m the council has already saved, only 25 per cent has had an impact on frontline services to communities.  The vast majority of savings have come from back office and administration, staff and management posts, procurement changes and other general efficiencies.

However, with no significant relief in sight from central Government funding, the county council faces the prospect of having to save a further £43m from its revenue budget by 2019/20 with a total of £169.4m saved over the decade. This represents a reduction of 34 per cent in the council’s spending power at a time when demand for services is growing.

North Yorkshire is experiencing an increase in the numbers of special needs pupils requiring transport and increases in the distances that they need to travel; this is leading to rising costs. These increases are due to improvements in medical science, better recognition and changes to legislation which have all led to a significant increase in special needs pupils nationally.

Based on these current trends, transport in North Yorkshire will reach an annual cost of £30m by 2025, far beyond the current budget of £5m.

Proposals currently being consulted have the potential to secure savings of £2m a year.  They include removal of the free exemption for post 16 young people with special needs or disabilities. From September 2018, they would be required to pay for transport they currently access for free, bringing them into line with charges for mainstream pupils – charges which are still lower than many other councils in the country.

Cllr Patrick Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for home to school transport, said:

We are consulting on these proposals with reluctance. We are entering our eighth year of austerity and the decisions we have to take to meet financial challenges ahead get harder. We hope people will see that we are making every attempt to be fair, that we are consulting with parents, carers and families concerned for their views and that we continue to look for ways to protect the sustainability of this and other frontline services.

The options for consultation are:

• Removal of free transport exemption for post 16-18 students with special needs or disability from September 2018 to bring it in line with mainstream transport arrangements. Currently the county council asks for a contribution of £490 per year for post-16 transport for mainstream young people.  This still represents a 43 per cent subsidy for mainstream students and would represent a 94 per cent subsidy for students with special needs or disability.
  This charge would be reduced by 50 per cent for low income families and the council would honour current arrangements for existing students to complete their current studies;
• Recognise post 19 students with special needs or disability as adults in education  and identify their transport needs in line with adult social care assessments;
• For ALL statutory age children (mainstream as well as special needs) Increase the parental transport allowance from 30p to 45p per mile when there is no other LA commissioned transport option available
  Introduce an enhanced mileage rate according to need for families with eligible children and young people with special needs or disabilities, as an alternative to council-commissioned taxis

Cllr Mulligan added:

For some families of statutory age children these proposals will offer real improvement. As well as making savings for the council, they will enable families to take control of their own home to school transport. They may also provide sufficient funding for families to acquire their own vehicle if they do not currently own a car.”

For more information about the consultations and to give views online people should go to:

https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/home-school-transport-including-children-and-young-people-send

Consultation timetable: