Councils throughout the country have warned that the current funding system, that assists with free school transport, may not be financially sustainable going forward. Local authorities are now spending more than £1 billion per year on school transport due to demand and costs. According to a new report, councils could be spending up to £1.2 billion on home-to-school transport, an estimate, which is considerably ‘more than is spent nationally on youth services, family support services or children’s centres.
A New Revised Strategy
The report found that more than eight in ten councils are overspending for the school transport budgets. The DfE have made a statement, ‘children should be able to access this free service if they are entitled to it…a new revised version of the statutory home-to-school transport guidance is being written’ to ensure not child misses out.
What can be done to guarantee that every child gets the same opportunities as everybody else?
