Special education students attending ‘nearest’ schools could have saved £900k, Herts councillors say

Currently parents whose children need the additional support secured through an Education Health and Care Plan can express a preference for the school their child should attend – even if it is not the closest to their home.

But according to council officials, £900k of transport costs could have been saved last year, if those children with EHCPs attending a ‘mainstream’ setting had opted for the school nearest to their homes.

The estimate was included in a report considered by the latest meeting of the county council’s education, libraries and lifelong learning cabinet panel.

According to that report, last year almost one in three children with EHCPs eligible for free transport and allocated a mainstream place were not attending the school that was nearest to their home.

Yet the report suggests that “in the vast majority of cases if one mainstream school can meet a child’s needs, they all can”.

And it says: “By ensuring the ‘nearest’ is named on EHCPs going forward, transport efficiencies will be made.”

Officials already have plans to review the new year seven and Reception EHCP placements in mainstream schools.

According to the report there are 39 new year seven pupils with EHCPs who are being transported to mainstream schools.

And with average annual costs of £11,547 per child, they say if only five children are not attending their nearest school then £58k would have been spent unnecessarily.

However at the meeting Liberal Democrat Councillor Mark Watkin raised concerns about the idea of children being taken to their ‘nearest’ school.

He echoed the statement in the report suggesting that “in the majority of cases if one mainstream school can meet a child’s needs, they all can”, saying: “I wish that was true.”

And pointing to the variability of support in schools, he expressed concern that children may be placed in schools that may not yet be appropriate for their needs.

“I hear what parents say,” he said.

“They look at the schools and they identify schools that they believe are the most appropriate genuinely. And we do know that there is a variability of support in schools.

“What worries me about that statement is the children will be placed in schools – because of transport benefits – which actually are not yet appropriate for their needs.

“And I think there is this tension between us looking to save costs and actually making sure that a school is actually appropriately established to meet that child’s needs.

“I am not quite sure what the answer is, but I would be very worried if EHCPs were being rewritten to fit that picture.”

In response, director of inclusion and skills Hero Slinn assured Councillor Watkin that transport was a secondary consideration in the placement of a child.

“When we make decisions around placement for children, that transport is very much a secondary factor to that decision-making,” she said.

“It is about the needs of the children, the provision that can be provided by a setting and therefore the suitability of that provision.

“Obviously if we have two provisions that can both provide for a child, then the secondary consideration would be around the closest. But it is very much a secondary in that way.”

Meanwhile deputy head of admissions Jayne Abery added that last year they had identified a number of children being transported to a school that had been named as the ‘nearest’ school – but wasn’t.

And she said that following work with SEN colleagues, the number of children with a named school that isn’t the nearest had “decreased significantly”.

“It’s not really a case of changing processes,” she said. “It’s ensuring tightening up of our internal processes to make sure that we are following the right track.”

Ms Abery said it was “very much about SEN officers ensuring that they identify the nearest school” but also about ensuring that they were not providing transport to a school that’s a parental preference, when there’s another school that could equally meet that child’s individual needs.

Data presented to the meeting showed that last year the county council spent £30.7m on transporting children with special educational needs to and from school.

And that’s almost double the £15.39m that it cost the county council just five years ago, in 2018/19.

Following the meeting a spokesperson for the county council said: “As we continue to see our finances stretched and demand for services increasing, we are doing everything possible to ensure that we deliver value for money while also providing the right support at the right time.

“Home to school transport costs form a large part of our spending across SEND.

“We know that by working with parents we can find solutions that are cost effective while also ensuring that those in need of specialist support receive it in educational settings that are appropriate and in line with their ECHPs.”

The meeting of the county council’s education, libraries and lifelong learning cabinet panel was held on 6 November.