'Children left stranded' - Central Bedfordshire Council to discuss school transport 'crisis'

Central Bedfordshire Council has apologised to those impacted, saying its “full attention is on this matter”.

The Central Bedfordshire SEND Action Group described the current situation as “an unacceptable recurring crisis at the start of every academic year”.

Parents’ reports to the group include:

• “three taxis turned up at our house this morning, one after the other, to take our child to school, who’s not even starting back this week”
• “my son’s transport was sent for route allocation on 7th July, and still isn’t actioned”
• “it’s not even just SEND transport as my daughter was dropped in Flitwick, instead of Westoning, and the driver couldn’t bring anyone back apparently, after forgetting to stop to let them off”

The Central Bedfordshire Community Network Biggleswade West councillor Hayley Whitaker is referring the matter to CBC’s sustainable communities overview and scrutiny committee today (Thursday, September 10).

“Home to school transport issues have seen many families without any information about how their child will get to school once again, despite applications being submitted on time,” she explained.

“These include children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Families waited hours for calls to be answered and often got no further.

“In the north of Central Bedfordshire, some families were told the evening before the first day back there was no transport in place and they’d need to get their child to school themselves.

“These issues aren’t new. It’s the same every year. Communication is poor and information is provided at the last minute, if at all. This puts unnecessary strain on families and officers.

“This year has been just as bad, if not worse. I’ve been working with officers to resolve individual cases, but the wider strategy needs scrutiny.

“I want to make sure that lessons are being learnt and robust procedures put in place ideally coproduced with our families, so we don’t see a repeat of the distress caused to residents.”

In an email to scrutiny committee members, Central Bedfordshire SEND Action Group warned: “These issues represent an unacceptable, recurring crisis at the start of every academic year.

“The start of term is already an overwhelmingly anxious and deeply distressing period for child with SEND. To subject them to this council-made chaos and leave vulnerable children stranded, while missing their vital first days of school and crucial transition periods, creates immense stress for families.

“Despite applications being submitted months in advance, families are again met with unmonitored communication channels, unanswered calls, cancelled provision at the eleventh hour, and serious safeguarding lapses.”

CBC executive member for families and children and Independent Flitwick councillor Gareth Mackey said: “At the start of term, 5,264 students were successfully transported to school.

“This is a huge undertaking. Since 1st September, we’ve received 127 late applications for school transport. We continue to work through these applications.

“There’ve been some families whose transport expectations weren’t met at the start of the school term. We recognise there were some issues and we’re very sorry that young people and their families were affected during an important time of transition so early in the academic year.

“Officers and executive members are beginning to analyse the issues reported already, with a view to building a comprehensive and factual understanding of how the service was delivered during the last week.

“Once this is completed and any learning is identified, we’ll both develop improvements for next year and be in a position to better inform the scrutiny committee on the cause and context of any service issues. I can assure families, pupils and all stakeholders that our full attention is on this matter.”