The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has today published a report warning that home-to-school transport for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is (well-worn SEND phrase alert) “financially unsustainable”.
The report highlights soaring costs, a lack of reliable national data, and major concerns about (another well-worn SEND phrase alert) the “cliff-edge” in support when children move into post-16 education. The Committee’s MPs have identified inconsistent practice among local authorities, as well as complex and confusing local eligibility rules. They’ve also recognised the impact on families’ finances, when transport shenanigans play havoc with parents’ ability to both work and get young people to and from school or college.
Because it’s by the Public Accounts Committee, the report focuses more on finances than families’ experiences. Local authorities now spend around three-quarters of their home-to-school transport budget on pupils with SEND—£2.6 billion in 2024/25—with no sign of this spending slowing down.
MPs observe that local authorities have already implemented the most obvious cost-saving measures, such as planning the most efficient routes, expecting children to share transport where possible, and promoting independent travel training for young people. But these measures are being outpaced by both inflation and structural issues, such as the fact that some children need single-occupancy vehicles for safety reasons.
Heavy reliance on plans for SEND reform
The Department for Education comes in for some trenchant criticism from the committee, which isn’t at all convinced that the Government has a handle on the problem of escalating transport costs or a realistic plan for addressing it.
For its part, DfE is pinning all its hopes on its recently-published Schools White Paper SEND proposals, telling MPs this will be the “single biggest” lever to reduce home-to-school transport costs.
The idea is that, as children’s needs are identified earlier, and more children with SEND attend inclusive schools closer to home, fewer pupils will need distant specialist placements and associated transport. Perhaps.
But as MPs point out, the SEND reforms are at a very early stage and still under consultation. And even if they are successful (now there’s an ‘if’), savings will take years to materialise. The Committee wants the DfE to set out exactly when they expect transport savings to be realised, and how much these savings are realistically likely to be.
Failure to collect and use meaningful data
Another criticism is the lack of robust national data on basic details such as
- How many children receive school transport
- How they travel, and
- Why they qualify for support
“The Department does not know who receives home to school transport and whether it reaches those most in need.”
Public Accounts Committee
Although local authorities report their overall spending, detailed transport data was only collected recently, and voluntarily, which produced incomplete results. The committee notes this limits the Government’s ability to assess value for money, monitor performance, understand unmet need, or measure the impact of reforms.
Failure to make the link between transport and school or college attendance
The DfE also fails to join the dots between children and young people’s access to transport, their attendance levels at school or college, and the outcomes they are able to achieve.
MPs criticise the Government for:
- Not tracking whether transport provision influences attendance,
- Not monitoring whether transport issues contribute to young people leaving education, and
- Not looking at the impact of transport barriers on children and young people’s educational outcomes.
The report says that without robust, mandatory and standardised data, DfE can’t assess value for money, benchmark local authorities, measure the impact of SEND reforms, or know whether transport is reaching those most in need
Weak challenge and oversight of local authorities
For regular readers of Special Needs Jungle, it will come as no surprise at all that the DfE doesn’t appear to hold local authorities to account in any meaningful way at all.
The disconnect between national policy and local delivery is never less than stark. In the case of transport, the DfE is
- failing to hold local authorities to account sufficiently for cost growth,
- can’t explain variations in spending or support, and
- has no mechanism to ensure that LAs are following best practice.
The post-16 cliff edge
One of the strongest concerns in the report is what families describe as a “cliff edge” at the age of 16. MPs conclude that families of young people over 16 are the hardest hit by failings in the system, a conclusion that will come as a surprise to no-one who has been paying attention to this issue in recent years.
“Despite the weight of evidence that parents find the system hard to navigate, the Department appears unconcerned about the clarity of the offering for this age group.”
Public Accounts Committee
MPs on the committee heard that local authorities across the country have cut discretionary post-16 transport. In other words, if they aren’t legally required to do it, they won’t do it. As a result, young people are missing out on learning or not starting college courses because transport hasn’t been agreed, or else parents are having to give up their own jobs to transport their son or daughter to school or college. MPs pointed out the obvious fact that the lack of post-16 transport is contributing to young people joining the ranks of the NEET (not in education, employment or training).
What should we conclude?
The committee makes a number of predictable recommendations to the Government, including:
- Clear projections of when SEND reforms might be expected to reduce transport costs.
- Immediate action to manage rising costs in the meantime.
- Mandatory, standardised data collection.
- Better understanding of the relationship between transport, attendance and NEET rates.
- Clearer communication for parents about post-16 entitlement to transport.
- Greater integration between transport and education planning.
This assumes, of course, that the overriding policy aim is to reduce the amount that’s spent on transport. But this is an incomplete aim: the other side of the coin is children and young people having suitable school and college places that meet their needs as close to home as possible.
If local authorities were fulfilling their strategic commissioning duties as they should, there would be less of a scramble for places at special schools and colleges in distant locations. Children and young people would have a better experience, and local authorities would have to spend less on transporting them to their place of education.
No parent wants their child to spend hours every day getting to and from school or college. Neither do they want to spend precious time and energy in debates with the local authority about what the law says. Home-to-school transport is a vital service for children and young people with SEND. Getting it right should be non-negotiable.
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Also read:
- Beyond EHCPs: Why Inclusion Needs More Than a Document
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms
- How health and family support systems are failing children starting school
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals
- When things go right: Shining a light on SEND Practitioners making a positive impact [Giveaway!]
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people
- Unison voices major concerns over SEND reform health plans for sick and disabled children out of school in the EOTAS consultation
- Top Tips for the EOTAS & EHCP consultation: Protect your child’s rights to statutory SEND support
- Navigating constraints: Why a former PCF chair thinks the current model is missing the mark for families
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them”
Key Content
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them”
- When Home-to-School Transport Doesn’t Fit: The Reality of Section 19 EOTAS
- EOTAS Consultation: A further assault on children’s SEND rights with cost saving and reintegration to schools at its heart
- MPs warn “unsustainable” SEND transport system fails families with disabled young people
- The law on school transport, and why costs for getting disabled children to school are so high
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When her younger daughter was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2009 shortly before her second birthday, Catriona found herself dealing in practice with things she’d previously thought she understood in principle.
She juggles her work as policy manager for a national charity with caring and advocating for her daughter. She's passionate about improving the lives of disabled children and their families, and making the systems that should support them work more transparently and equitably.
Catriona writes for Special Needs Jungle in a personal capacity, and all views expressed are her own.
- “Why would anyone in government think that was an okay idea?” #SaveSENDLegalRights - May 12, 2026
- The SEND reform reality check: Why experts’ and policymakers’ concerns are growing under scrutiny - April 15, 2026
- MPs warn “unsustainable” SEND transport system fails families with disabled young people - March 6, 2026
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