- MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have criticised the government's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms for failing to address critical issues regarding home-to-school transport costs and council deficits.
- Despite ministers' aims to make the SEND system more inclusive and reduce long-term costs, the reforms do not cover the significant financial burden of home-to-school transport, which cost councils £2 billion last year.
- While 90 per cent of councils' high-needs deficits up to this year will be written off, and SEND costs managed centrally from 2028, MPs noted uncertainty about how deficits arising between now and 2028 will be handled.
- The Department for Education (DfE) is relying on the reforms to make local schools more inclusive, thereby reducing the need for expensive transport, but MPs question when any savings will materialise.
- Concerns were also raised about the DfE's understanding of how transport affects attendance, the difficulty parents face navigating the system and the impact of declining local bus services, particularly in rural areas.
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