More than 130 Northamptonshire children without school transport due to council backlog

Many children with special needs are missing school because they do not have the school transport they are entitled to
16 year old Amiee, right, is one of the students who transport is still to be arranged.16 year old Amiee, right, is one of the students who transport is still to be arranged.
16 year old Amiee, right, is one of the students who transport is still to be arranged.

More than 130 special educational needs children in Northamptonshire are still waiting for their school transport to be sorted three weeks after term time began.

Children are having to miss school after already losing six months of education during lockdown, because of a backlog within Northamptonshire County Council’s transport department.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The council has told parents their applications may not be processed until after the October half-term and have said they are dealing with each case on a first-come-first-served basis. Many parents had applied late because of uncertainty during lockdown and some did not know at the May deadline which school their child would be going to.

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service today, four days after the initial enquiry, a spokesman for the authority said: “The backlog for SEN applications is 133, all of which are late applications – 49 relate to pupils who are under 16 and entitled to transport, 27 are non-entitled applications and 57 are post 16 applications. We have already put in place 409 new applications for SEN pupils across those three categories.

“These backlogs are being handled in order of application. Whilst some requests for transport are easier to resolve than others, we are working through them all as quickly as we can.”

Yesterday (September 16) portfolio holder for transport Cllr Jason Smithers insisted there were only a handful of affected children.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a statement issued through the council he said: “We recognise the urgency of facilitating SEN transport and we prioritise the support of all young people, including those from low income families and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The County Council Post 16 Educational Travel Scheme requires applications to be made to the council by the last working day in May in order to guarantee a place for the following academic year.

“Applications made after this date can only be given if a place already exists, (i.e. a spare seat on an existing vehicle). Any applications made after 9th August are deemed late applications and may not be processed in time for the start of term. Any additional late applications received after 23rd August cannot be assessed until October half term. We are currently working hard to try and complete all assessments in advance of this date.”

His colleague with responsibility for children’s services, Cllr Fiona Baker, has not commented on the issue despite requests.

Despite being told by Northamptonshire County Council’s education department that he could finish off his studies this year, Leo Mastrangelo now cannot get to his special educational needs school.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It now looks like he could miss the first six weeks of his final 12 weeks of schooling, a situation which his mum Kay says is unacceptable.

She said: “Leo should have left in July 2020 but due to Covid it was agreed by Northants County Council that they would extend his EHCP for one term from September. I applied for transport after the deadline as this all happened after the deadline.

“They replied saying they would not look at my email until October on a first-come-first-serve basis. We live in Kettering and Canto is in Northampton so taking him myself is not practical and I would have to take holiday from work to do it which I don’t have.

“I telephoned SEN Transport last Wednesday to see what the situation was. They said they had 700 emails to look through and post=16 transport would not be looked at until October so instead of twelve weeks to finish his studies this brings it down to six even if they look at it on time.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She added: “Transport for SEN children is not a luxury – it is a necessity.”

This transport issue comes after the authority could not get enough buses to socially distance some children on buses going to mainstream schools. It is understood this issue is now resolved.