A damning new report has revealed that Birmingham City Council spent a staggering £51 million on transporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in a single year, with critics labelling the system as "failing" the families it is meant to serve.
A System Under Strain: Soaring Costs and Human Impact
The research, conducted by Green Shoots Market and commissioned by the online Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), found the 2024-25 expenditure was the fourth highest in the country. Over a five-year period, SEND transportation costs for the council surged by approximately £25.1 million.
Hugh Viney, CEO of MVA, stated the report highlights a gruelling daily reality for thousands of children. "For thousands of children, the daily journey to school is a source of chronic anxiety, sensory overload and deteriorating mental health, leaving them exhausted before learning even begins," he said.
Viney argued that rising costs are not driven by need alone, but by a flawed framework. "SEND transport costs aren’t rising because of need alone, but because of a system that too often works against families," he added.
The National Picture: Demand Skyrockets
The report contextualises Birmingham's spending within a national crisis. Across England, the number of pupils with SEND has increased by 44% over nine years. In the same period, spending on their school transport has exploded by 204%.
This has fundamentally shifted local authority education budgets. Home-to-school transport for SEND pupils now accounts for 4.9% of all local authority education spending, a sharp rise from just 2% a decade ago.
By law, councils must provide free transport to children up to 16 if they live over three miles from school or have special educational needs that prevent them from walking.
Council Response and Calls for Alternative Models
In response, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson highlighted the authority's unique scale as Europe's largest local authority, supporting around 6,000 pupils with travel assistance. They noted a UK-wide increase in demand and claimed spending had been "significantly reduced over the past 18-months" through procurement changes.
The council also pointed to investment in independent travel training to help SEND students use public transport. However, Hugh Viney challenged the reliance on costly taxi services, including those run by council-owned subsidiaries.
"Instead of funnelling vast sums into taxi services... we should be asking why alternative models of education for children who are out of school or struggling in mainstream settings are so often overlooked," Viney concluded, questioning the value for money achieved by current procurement practices.
