Education Authority: agreement with taxi operators over NI pupil transport costs results in near £1m savings
Concern over rising costs has been ongoing with the annual bill doubling to nearly £40m in just five years
Almost £1m has been saved on the bill for taxis transporting pupils to schools across Northern Ireland, the Education Authority said today (Monday).
The EA said home-to-school transport costs were linked to a lack of school places for children with special educational needs
Concern over rising taxi services costs has been ongoing with the annual bill doubling to nearly £40m in just five years
Last month the EA confirmed the highest taxi rate being shelled out equated to £83 per mile pro rata.
It said it had now agreed a total saving so far of £918,000 by the end of this financial year.
In a statement the EA said it would always seek to address such transport needs using either Translink services or EA buses.
It said, taxis were an option where these were not available or appropriate.
Dale Hanna, EA’s Chief Operations Officer, said: “We will continue to engage with taxi operators to secure more savings and bear down on costs. We are grateful to all those operators who are working with us constructively.
“However, it must be emphasised that a significant proportion of the increase in taxi costs is connected to the shortfall in SEN places. Further specialist provision classes in mainstream schools are an absolute necessity.”
In recent months, the EA said it had invited 300 mainstream schools from areas of highest SEN placement need to engagement sessions on specialist provision.
It said around 90 attended.
"The EA is continuing to engage with schools across NI and with the Department on confirming places for September 2026 and the longer term," the statement added..