Consultation approved to seek public opinion on changes in home to school travel

People are being asked for their opinions on proposed changes to the provision of home to school travel for children and young adults with SEND.

At today’s (Wednesday December 18^th 2024) meeting of the Council’s Education, Children’s & Families Committee a consultation was approved to take place in the new year.

It has long been the view by the Council that every child and young person in Sheffield should travel to their place of learning as independently as possible, arriving safely, settled, and ready to learn. This is even more important once they turn 16 and start to look towards young adulthood.

Sheffield’s SEN schools and hubs have many important jobs - one of which is to give young people the life skills they need to thrive after school. As a Council we believe independent travel is high on that list.

Independent travel is known to have benefits for children in terms of educational achievement, developing life skills and social growth. And in recognising the diverse needs of children and young adults, we understand some may need extra support with travel arrangements to achieve their full potential.

This consultation will look at proposals for better support for parents and teachers, with help with travel training and the introduction of a personal travel budget. This will enable young people and their carers to work towards independence while still being fully supported by the people they trust.

Also, the need for home to school travel for children and young adults with SEND needs continues to increase across Sheffield.

Between March 2023 and this year (2024), the number of children in Sheffield needing home to school transport support increased by 7.9% to almost 2,500.

This is also mirrored in the need for “Post-16 Transport” – where local authorities must make arrangements for the provision of transport they consider necessary to allow young adults to attend certain types of education placements. Demand for Post-16 Transport is expected to increase by around 25% by September 2026.

It is believed the increased demand in both areas will then continue.

But the increased city-wide need, coupled with rising costs, means that this area of Council provision is consistently one of the local authority’s biggest overspends each year.

Officers have been looking at different ways to help increase children and young people’s independence and make this service more efficient. One such method has seen a recent recruitment drive for more travel trainers so more young people can receive independent travel training.

Cllr Dawn Dale, Chair of the Education, Children’s & Families Committee, said:

“We firmly believe as a Council that Sheffield should be a place where all children belong, and all young people can build a successful future.

“We are always looking at ways we can improve the service we provide for Sheffield’s children, and have already been making strides in this area.

“But we want to do more, and now people can help us along this journey by taking part in this consultation to ensure the priorities of the people who live here and may be affected by these changes are heard.”

Today, the public consultation on proposed service changes was approved to take place in January (2025) – and now the people of Sheffield are being invited to have their say once it has opened.

Opinion is being sought on subjects such as what the impacts would be on children and young adults affected, what might parents and carers be concerned about? And are there any positives that affected families can identify with proposed changes?

The report brought to today’s committee meeting – which includes all the potential changes and other options available to the Council - can be read in full on the Council’s website.

We will inform people when the consultation has opened so that people who wish to take part can do so.