School SEND transport bill could hit £3.4 billion by 2030
The County Councils Network estimated local authorities transported a record high number SEND children and young people to school last year at 206,000.
Transport cost to get pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to school, could cost local authorities £3.4 billion by the end of the decade.
The analysis comes from the County Councils Network (CCN).
They suggested local authorities could be transporting over 100,000 more young people with SEND to school by 2030/31 without significant reform.
This could see councils spending £1.4 billion a year more than last year on home-to-school transport by the end of the decade, the CCN said.
It comes as the Government is expected to publish its Send reforms in the Schools White Paper in the coming weeks.
Councillor Bill Revans, SEND spokesperson for the CCN, said: "It is vital that Government does not ignore the alarming rise in Send school transport costs, which has become one of the biggest pressures on council budgets over the last few years."
The CCN estimated councils transported a record high number of children and young people up to age 25 with Send to school last year at 206,000 (180,000 pre-16, 26,000 post-16), which it predicts will increase to 311,000 by 2030/31 on the current trajectory.
Department for Education (DfE) figures estimate around 9% of the 180,000 pre-16 pupils using home-to-school transport in 2024/25 were travelling in single-occupancy vehicles.
The number of education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which are legal documents setting out the support a young person with Send is entitled to, increased by 166% between January 2015 and January 2025.
While pupils do not have to have an EHCP to qualify for home-to-school transport because of their Send, around a third with an EHCP attend special schools, which are more likely to lie further than the statutory school walking distance for them, and therefore require local authority transport.
The Government announced earlier this month it will write off 90% of the SEND deficits accrued by councils on their dedicated schools grants up to this year.
From 2028, the Government has said it will manage future SEND costs in the overall Government budget.
Despite welcoming these actions, the CCN said home-to-school transport has become "overwhelming" for council budgets.
A report by the National Audit Office last year found councils in England spent £415 million more than budgeted on home-to-school transport in 2023/24, with total spending growing 70% from 2015/16 to then.
The CCN is calling for the Schools White Paper reforms to ensure mainstream schools are better able to support more children with Send in their local schools.
It also said the SEND tribunal system should be reformed, with rulings on school placements not able to be made without considering relative transport costs first.
Ministry of Justice tribunal figures show SEND appeals hit another record high in 2024/25.
Of the appeals relating to a child's school placement, nearly a third (31%) resulted in the parent getting their preference, nearly a quarter (24%) in the local authority agreeing with the parent at the hearing, and 13% seeing a ruling in favour of the local authority's school preference.
The Government has said already it will spend £3 billion on creating around 50,000 new school places for children with Send, with some of that cash set to go towards creating places in local mainstream schools.
It will also spend £200 million to give all teachers training in supporting children with Send.