Transport for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities

We are doing an in depth report about council expenditure on transport for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Our questions are as follows:

1) How much have you spent on transport for children with SEND each year, in 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 (forecast)?

2) How many children with SEND have you provided transport for each year, in 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 (forecast)?

3) What was the average annual cost of SEND school transport per child, in 2020/21, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 (forecast)?

4) Please can you provide a list of the providers you use for home to school transport for children with SEND?

5) What have been the key factors driving an increase in transport costs for children with SEND in your council in recent years?

Note - 2025-2026 - spent is based on budget forecast and pupil numbers between April 2025 to July 2025 only.

4. Lincolnshire County Council has operated a Dynamic Purchasing System since February 2022. SEND contracts fall under Lot 1 - education and social care and there are 461 companies registered under Lot 1.  The attached PDF contains information on companies that have operated SEND contracts.

Should you require the attachments mentioned above please contact customerinformationservice@lincolnshire.gov.uk with the below reference number and this can be provided.

5. There are many factors driving an increase in the cost to deliver travel for children with SEND across all councils in England including Lincolnshire. Factors such as these all play a part: Demand, with an increase in the number of children with Educational Health Care Plans in the system; Distance, with the number of independent schools growing and the need for placements children have been travelling further to be placed in their most appropriate setting, in rural counties this can lead to more expensive lone travelling; Supplier costs, with overheads and fuel costs increasing this causes a rise in costs when awarding transport.