Sheffield SEND pupils face up to 50-mile school round trip

Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Sheffield are doing round trips of up to 50 miles to attend schools in different areas, according to council data.

The furthest distance a child travels is 117 miles to a residential school where a taxi drops them off on Monday and collects them on Friday.

Warren Carratt, CEO of Nexus Multi-Academy Trust which runs 16 SEND schools in South Yorkshire, said parents were “wrestling with a wicked issue” as some children need to travel for up to an hour-and-a-half.

Sheffield City Council said it was “consistently” looking at ways to minimise journeys, while the government said it was investing £740m nationwide to create more places.

There are 2,520 children with special needs and disabilities entitled to school transport funded by Sheffield City Council.

Of these, 114 are travelling to schools outside the city by parents who are reimbursed for taking them, or in taxis or minibuses.

Mr Carratt said there was a “constant trend” of children going to schools over the border.

“It is something we’ve seen a significant change in and that’s really down to an insufficient supply of places which is restricting parental choice,” he said.

“There isn’t going to be a special school in every family’s postcode but if parents are placed between a choice of waiting forever or looking over the border, I completely understand.”

Mr Carratt was also concerned at the effect long commutes were having on pupils and said his trust tried to find places for children at nearby schools.

“It is not ideal for a child to sit on a minibus for up to an hour-and-a-half and we have real concerns about that. For some families that’s the wicked issue they wrestle with, which is the lesser of two evils?

“Getting their child in a school place that meets their needs where they thrive, but at the cost to the child of quite a long journey.

“Or do they leave their child in a setting where they’re waiting for a place that may never emerge locally?

“I really don’t envy parents having to make that difficult decision.”

Sheffield City Council is facing a £7m budget overspend with SEND transport and has described it as “an unsustainable expenditure needing urgent and sustained action”.

Mr Carratt said there was a “perfect storm” as successive governments had failed to invest in the increased demand for SEND places and councils had no additional funding to cover the costs of transport.

Sheffield City Council, which had responded to a Freedom of Information request by the BBC, said demand was high, as with most areas of the country.

Coun Dawn Dale, chair of the education, children and families committee, said: “On occasion, it is necessary for a small number of children to attend external placements, due to their specialist needs or sufficiency of appropriate provision for their needs.

“The teams consistently look at the minimisation of any journeys or external placements, in line with the needs of the children and young people.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government inherited a SEND system on its knees.

“We are listening closely to parents to improve experiences and outcomes for children to ensure every child attends a good local school that meets all their needs – including through a £740m investment this year to create more specialist places.”