Unfunded burdens put pressure on pupil transport costs
0Local authorities are spending £75m more on transporting young people to school than four years ago, according to the County Councils Network (CCN).
According to a survey launched at the network’s conference this week, rising demand in special educational needs is creating ‘budget risks’ for councils as they struggle to cope with year-on-year rises in eligible pupils – due to several new ‘unfunded burdens’.
At the same time, the added complexity of pupils’ needs and circumstances have increased costs for individual pupils, according to the report.
Carl Les, CCN spokesman for children’s services and education, said: “Demand for special educational needs funded school transport has increased exponentially over the last four years, but our funding for these lifeline services has remained static.
“These new unfunded burdens have come at a time when local authority budgets are being stretched due to the unprecedented financial pressures we all face.”
