The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that upcoming reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system must address growing pressures on home-to-school transport, one of the fastest-rising areas of local authority spending.

Around 520,000 children and young people in England receive home-to-school transport, costing councils £2.3bn in 2023-24—up 70% since 2015-16.

The NAO found councils overspent by £415m last year, struggling to meet their legal duties to eligible pupils while balancing budgets.

Rising numbers of children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs), longer travel distances, driver shortages, and higher fuel and wage costs are driving up expenditure.

Transport for pupils with SEND now costs councils around five times more per child than mainstream transport. In 2023-24, on average, transport for a child with SEND cost £8,116 compared with £1,526 for ‘mainstream transport’.

The NAO urged the Department for Education to ensure SEND reforms and funding reflect these pressures, warning that cuts to discretionary travel risk limiting access to education for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: ‘Local authorities are making savings to meet their statutory duties, but they are looking to DfE’s upcoming SEND reforms to ensure the long-term sustainability of home to school transport.’

Cllr Amanda Hopgood, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said the NAO’s report reinforces the ‘urgent need’ for Government to ‘set out comprehensive reforms in the upcoming white paper, which tackles the lack of mainstream inclusion in the school system for children with SEND.’

Ann Carruthers, immediate past president of ADEPT, said: 'We strongly support the NAO's recommendation that transport must be integrated into the upcoming SEND reforms, to ensure the system works sustainably for children, families and local authorities.'

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'This Government inherited a SEND system on its knees, with thousands of families struggling to secure the right support.

'Work is already underway to make sure more children with SEND can achieve and thrive at their local school alongside their peers – including investing £740m to create more specialist school places and increasing access to early support for speech and language needs.'

Autumn Budget Insights: SEND reform needed to break vicious cycle.