SEND Transport Consultation Proposals

16/03/2023

This week, Shropshire Council have announced plans to consult on the SEND Transport Offers to support their anticipated budget reduction of £200,000 across the current SEND Transport Budgets. You can see their announcement here Transport assistance to continue for eligible children and young people - Shropshire Council Newsroom

PACC have been involved in discussions with Shropshire Council about the review since September 2022.  Since then, PACC have met with the independent team supporting the review and shared with them the many benefits of the current offer and the risks and concerns families share with us about their experience of SEND Transport. We shared with them the results of our Transport Survey, alongside the outcomes of other surveys run recently that demonstrate the impact of both positive and negative experiences as well as the value transport services can provide to a young persons development.

We were approached by BBC Radio Shropshire to discuss the review of SEND Transport and what this means to Shropshire families. You can read a summery of the interview here Plans for changes to Shropshire home-to-school SEND transport schemes - BBC News and hear the interview as it was aired here (link coming soon). Our Communications and Engagement Lead, Zara Bowden, took the opportunity to share our concerns about the risk of loosing the 16-19 SEND Transport offer. She describes the impact this will have on the educational and social outcomes for young people, as well as the implications of a required financial contribution potentially being increased from the £918 per academic year as it stands currently. The experience of accessing SEND Transport can be beneficial for developing independence skills, social skills, and providing an experience that some children with SEND may struggle to access otherwise. These are among many of the reasons PACC will continue to champion the Parent Carers voice to be heard throughout this process.

We have approached Shropshire Council to seek reassurance that the process will continue to be coproduced, and to offer our support to develop communications and engagement plans to ensure any potential impact to families and opportunities to inform and influence decisions are well communicated across our SEND community. 

To support our continued influence over this process, we have created another short survey to help us understand the impact of the proposals on families. Please complete this here.

We will continue to update this information as appropriate.