Posted on the 10th December 2025 in PHTM News

EXPERTS URGE RENAMING HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT TO CURB SPIRALLING £2.3 BILLION COSTS

Leading local authority figures have told MPs that “home-to-school transport” should be renamed “assisted travel to school” to better manage expectations and tackle spiralling costs, which have now reached £2.3 billion a year in England.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, witnesses argued that while councils are committed to helping children entitled to support, the service does not need to be “a door-to-door taxi service.”

Rose McArthur, from the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (Adept), highlighted the need for a linguistic shift.

“There’s a huge problem with linguistics,” she said, suggesting the term 'home-to-school' creates a presumption of a direct service.

She continued: “It does not have to be home-to-school, it could be home to a bus stop, or a bus stop to here or a walking route to there… We are wanting children to get to education but how that happens does not have to be a door-to-door taxi service.”

Amanda Hopgood of the Local Government Association agreed, saying the service should be called “assisted travel to school, as opposed to home-to-school transport.”

The soaring costs are driven largely by the transport needs of children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). While SEND pupils make up only about 40% of the 470,000 children who benefit, the National Audit Office found councils spend five times more on their transport, often requiring single-occupancy taxis over long distances.

Ms. Hopgood also suggested that high costs were exacerbated by the pandemic: “We do have the legacy of what we had during Covid where we had lots of people in single taxis for obvious reasons and people have been reluctant to give that up.”

Anna Bird, CEO of the charity Contact, raised concerns that support for 16-to-19-year-olds is being cut as it is discretionary, adding that “the system needs to provide for these children. There needs to be a fair system based on need, not age.”

Additionally, Labour MP Sarah Hall shared feedback from parents in her constituency, stating: “Parents feel they have to fight for support every step of the way. They find it demoralising.”


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