Home-to-school transport

An interesting report has published by the National Audit Office about the rising costs of home-to-school transport. Costs have risen by around 70% in real terms since 2015-2016. Unfortunately local authorities have reacted to this by withdrawing or restricting discretionary transport funding, which creates a barrier to post-16 education for many young people.

The reason for this is (unsurprisingly!) a huge increase in costs for SEND transport. Local Authorities are having to send children further because of a lack of local provision, which means longer journeys and more unique journeys. There's also a shortage of drivers and passenger assistants who are willing to take responsibility for children with complex needs.

The report looks at the financial impact of these journeys, but there is also the impact on the children facing long journeys every day. Time spent on transport is time that can't be spent taking part in hobbies or seeing friends, or just decompressing after the school day. School transport is also inflexible - if the child wants to stay late for an after-school activity, or needs to be collected for a medical appointment, the parents will have to manage this themselves.

Nobody wants these long journeys. It's something parents and children get stuck with because of the shortage of suitable local provision.

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Home-to-School-transport.pdf