A family in Surrey has been paid £1,500 in compensation after the county council failed to provide school transport for a child with complicated medical needs.
An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found that the child missed 27 days of school and special needs assistance, causing his mother and family ‘avoidable’ pain.
A spokesperson for the council apologised for any distress caused before adding that a lack of suitable providers meant that some children have had to ‘wait longer for appropriate arrangements than we would like.’
They added: ‘Whilst we always do our utmost to process home to school transport applications in a timely manner, we have seen a 64% increase in education, health and care needs assessment requests across Surrey since 2020, which has naturally had a knock on effect with a year on year increase in demand for Home to School Travel Assistance (HTSTA) (as many children and young people with an education, health and care plan require HTSTA). This has resulted in a predicted overspend for this service.’
The cost of school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has increased from £727m in 2019 to £1.4bn in 2024.
