Consultation over transport funding for five Cambridgeshire special schools

A consultation is being launched on proposals that could mean funding for transport to and from after school clubs at special schools in Cambridgeshire is scrapped.

Cambridgeshire County Council currently provides funding to cover the cost of transport to enable students at the five area special schools to stay on beyond the end of the school day and participate in after school activities.

The arrangements – which have been in place since 2011 – benefit those attending Castle School in Cambridge, Granta School in Linton, Highfields Academy in Ely, Samuel Pepys School in St Neots and Spring Common Academy in Huntingdon.

The cost of home to school/college transport has increased considerably and the council is looking at ways to address the significant financial pressures on its budget.

This year, the council is expecting to spend around £600,000 more on home to school/college transport for children and young people with SEND than it has in its budget. This includes £93,000 to provide transport for children who use one of the after school clubs run by the five special schools in the consultation.

The consultation – which seeks views on five options ranging from continuing to offer the full funding to reduced funding and scrapping it altogether – runs until March 11. A final decision is due to be made by the council’s children and young people’s committee on May 17, with any changes taking effect no earlier than September 2022.

The options under consideration are:

• Option 1a - Continue to provide free transport to children and young people who attend Castle School, Granta School, Highfield Academy Ely, Samuel Pepys School and Spring Common Academy to enable them to access the after school provision run by those schools.
• Option 1b - Continue to provide free transport to the children and young people currently on roll at the schools named in Option 1, but not to any children and young people who are placed at those schools after the start of the 2022/23 academic year.
• Option 2 - Change from providing free transport to those children and young people who attend the schools named in Option 1 to providing subsidised transport with parents/carers meeting part of the cost.
• Option 3 - Change from providing free transport to those children and young people who attend the schools named in Option 1, to providing subsidised transport with parents/carers meeting part of the cost, with the subsidy phased out over three years at the end of which parents/carers would meet the full cost.
• Option 4 - Change from providing free transport to those children and young people who attend the schools named in Option 1 to providing free transport only to those families who qualify for financial support on the grounds of low income, and to offer subsidised transport for other children with parents/carers meeting part of the cost.
• Option 5 - Cease providing free transport to those children and young people who attend the schools named in Option 1 with effect from the start of term in September 2022. This would mean that parents/carers would need to meet the full cost of transport themselves should they wish their children to continue to attend one of those clubs from the start of September 2022.

Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, chair of the committee, said: “The current arrangements give much-needed respite to parents and carers, and we are also aware of the financial pressures many families are already facing.

“We are therefore launching this consultation to give us a clearer picture of how children, young people, their families and the schools would be affected if any of the options are approved.”

The consultation can be completed online here or paper copies can be obtained by contacting transportconsultation@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.