Newcastle Council SEND school transport cut delayed as parents warn of dire consequences

A move to scrap free home to school transport for post-16 Newcastle school pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been paused.

Council bosses have delayed a decision to cut the service, which was expected to be taken on Monday night, saying that they would look again at the civic centre’s financial troubles. Parents of SEND pupils who spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service ahead of Newcastle City Council’s cabinet meeting warned that pulling the free transport would risk cutting short the education of some of Tyneside’s most vulnerable children.

Neighbouring North Tyneside Council, however, has signed off on changes that will introduce a £672-per-year charge for post-16 pupils to access its home to school travel arrangements. Both local authorities have warned that it is no longer financially sustainable for them to keep providing the free transport, which councils are not legally required to fund for post-16 pupils, amid spiralling bills and mounting pressure on their social care services.

But mum-of-three Amberlie Wood-Burton called the proposed end of the Newcastle post-16 provision “disgusting” and “discriminatory”. She said that her severely autistic son would not be able to travel to school himself and that many families would find it impossible to arrange alternatives themselves, particularly parents who do not drive or who also have children at other schools, or rely on public transport.

The 37-year-old, from West Denton, added: “A lot of us parents will probably have to cut their education short, by removing them from school at 16, because of this decision.”

Amy Hutton, from Blucher, worries that her 15-year-old daughter will be unable to continue her studies at the school she attends 20 miles away in Ashington if the cut goes ahead. She added: “There is a chronic shortage of places she could go. Some of these children just won’t go to school [if post-16 transport is cut].

“These are the most vulnerable children in our city. Some of them couldn’t get the bus – never mind with a carer, some can’t get on at all because of sensory issues and anxiety.”

Lesley Storey, Labour’s cabinet member for children and families in Newcastle, said the move was “not a decision we would ever take lightly and all options have been reviewed”. She confirmed on Monday that civic centre officers had been instructed to produce further financial modelling on the change and that the decision would now be made at a later date.

Coun Storey said the delay would also allow the council to take into account a Government announcement on council funding that is expected this week, though she warned that the authority would likely have to go ahead with the cut if there is “no clear scope for additional funding specifically for SEND transport”. Coun Storey added: “That is never a decision that any cabinet wishes to make but we have a responsibility to residents in Newcastle to deliver a balanced budget. Not doing so could put all our services at risk.

“Regardless of any decision on this matter, we are continuing to expand our independent travel training programme, which has been widely praised by young people and their parents/carers. We are also doing everything we can to work with those potentially affected to ensure they are aware of the additional support available to support post-16 SEND students, and how this can be used to support them with their travel arrangements.”

There are currently 189 post-16 learners in Newcastle whose transport is paid for by the council, at an estimated cost of £131,000 per month, while the local authority is due to announce plans to slash £24 million from its budgets in the coming weeks.

In North Tyneside, meanwhile, the council’s cabinet heard earlier on Monday afternoon how it expects to overspend its home to school transport budget for 2024/25 by £1.8 million. Coun Steven Phillips, Labour’s cabinet member for inclusion, employment and skills, said the authority acknowledged public concerns about its proposed cuts but that the budget pressures meant they should go ahead.

The changes in North Tyneside, which will come into effect in September 2025, include:

• Introducing a £672 charge per academic year towards the cost of post-16 travel assistance;
• No longer reimbursing 50% of travel costs of pupils attending mainstream education;
• Only providing travel at the start and end of the school day, no longer accommodating pupils on part-time timetables; and
• Removing funded bus passes for those travelling to faith schools on the grounds of religion.

All children and young people who currently receive travel assistance in North Tyneside will continue to receive it until the end of their current phase of education, the council added.

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