Urgent rethink calls at Ingol roadworks amid reports of multiple crashes in daysThe spiralling cost of transporting children with special educational needs and disabilities to school will see Lancashire County Council spend around £6m more than it had planned on the service this year.
County Cllr Scott Cunliffe said if the predicted overspend was going to be repeated year after year, there must come a point where that money is best spent reviewing the “geographical layout” of SEND schools and bringing them “closer to communities”. The statutory guidance on journey times is considered “a general rule”, meaning that the limits – which including walking times to pick-up points – can be exceeded where it is deemed reasonable to do so.
The report also stated that use of taxis, as opposed to minibuses, should be “a last resort” and that transport should usually be provided only to and from central pick-up and drop-off points – not to the child’s own doorstep.