A presentation was made at Monday's Cabinet regarding problems with school transport for Special Educations Needs children and those with a disability (SEND. It is a joint service with Harrow Council who have the lead role.
Wembley Matters reported on the issues that had been raised by parents and carers at a Brent Fiightback meeting HERE
THE PETITION PRESENTATION
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Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak today. My name is Zaynab Alfadhl and I am a parent of a child with special educational needs attending a special school in Brent and residing in the borough.
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I raised this petition to plea that councillors listen to the voice of the most vulnerable; our children and young people with SEND and their families who represent their voice.
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I have spent approximately 4 years battling with Brent Council regarding the transport service not meeting my own child’s needs, and exacerbating my child’s SEND needs.
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Like many other families, I am a working parent with another child to take to and from school. It is not possible for me to take my SEND child to and from school and I heavily rely on this council service.
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In multiple complaints over the years, Brent council have failed to consider the wellbeing and their duty of care of my child in their decision making. Examples include my child being strapped in a harness which worsened his difficulties, against my wishes where I have been told ‘if I do not agree to a harness then the council will no longer be able to transport my child to and from school’. I have felt I was given no choice as I would have to consider leaving my job to take my child to and from school.
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Not at any point has the council looked at the number of children on the routes and the journey times being too long as a contributor to the distress he has been facing on the journey to and from school.
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Health professionals have been ignored including CAMHS recommendations for a shorter journey time and safeguarding concerns raised. This is a continuous concern raised by other parents.
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I have made complaint after complaint and I have not been listened too. The transport staff are rude, unsympathetic, bringing their personal lives into conversations, and refusing/resisting to give emergency telephone numbers for after hours when children are still not home. It left me no choice but to start a petition in the hope that the council will now act on this.
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Having recently joined parent forums it has come to my attention that I am not alone in this, and that many other families in the borough are experiencing the same problem with the journey times being too long, with too many children on route.
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Due to lack of specialist SEND provision in Brent many children have to travel outside the borough to school, or across the borough as there is little specialist provision in the North of the borough.
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Many SEND Children are not able to attend their most local mainstream primary or secondary school due to their complex special educational needs and are being forced to sit on buses in immense traffic conditions while being transported to and from school. Families have told me that this can range from 2-3 hours per journey, each day.
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The council state that the increase in travel times is due to the traffic and roadworks and have disregarded that there are too many children on the bus routes which is a significant contributor to travel times.
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The maximum journey time for a child of primary school age should be 45 minutes each way, and 75 minutes each way for a child of secondary school age. The council is no where near meeting this requirement.
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Brent buses have increased the number of children on buses to 12 on some routes in a ploy to save money at the expense of these vulnerable children.
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Our children are often not attending school on time and missing essential statutory education and not coming home at a reasonable time and missing essential family time. They are spending more time on the road than in school which is totally unacceptable.
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Our children’s SEND needs are being impacted by these long journeys with significant traffic delays and roadworks which is heightening their anxieties and causing immense distress both in school and at home.
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These SEND children are in need of routine, safety and predictability and are left anxious and upset while parents also wait anxiously for the service that they rely on.
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Children are not arriving to school in a state where they are ready to learn as they have already had a bad start to the day, which makes them dysregulated. My son is also an example of this. This would therefore result in behaviour difficulties, dysregulation and he certainly is not in state ready to learn.
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Another example is my son would arrive home some days between 6pm- 6.30pm. School finishes at 3pm. My son on occasions has soiled and wet himself on this long route and would come home extremely distressed as a result of being stuck on transport for 3 hours on the way home. This is one example of many that parents have too shared similar experiences.
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We urge the council to review the distress this is causing vulnerable young people and their families, and place some extra buses with less children on each route to reduce the journey times and conditions that the most vulnerable in Brent are experiencing.
BRENT COUNCIL'S RESPONSE
As a council we take the wellbeing of our children with special educational needs very seriously and are conscious of our obligations to provide suitable travel arrangements to help eligible children get to school.
All routes are planned by the Brent and Harrow Transport Hub using specialist software and local knowledge to arrive at school on time, no matter how many children are in the vehicle used.
The service uses both directly owned and operated buses, and vehicles provided by a robust group of approved contractors to ensure there is always enough capacity available to meet our obligations to provide suitable travel arrangements within the budgets available. For example, at present our directly operated routes currently run on average at two-thirds of vehicle capacity to reduce journey times.
There are however factors outside of our control that can cause journey times to be longer than planned, such as unscheduled roadworks and children not being ready to board the vehicle on time.
As every route, and the children on it, are unique, there can be teething issues when a new route is set up despite the best efforts of route planners, drivers, and passenger assistants. The performance of any new routes is therefore closely monitored and where required adjustments are made.
While we appreciate that the number of pick-ups on a route does influence the total journey time, we do have to be conscious of our responsibilities to use taxpayers’ money wisely and run efficient services within budgetary constraints. While this can be a difficult balance to get right, ensuring a good quality service is delivered for children and young people within reasonable journey times will always be our top priority.
Speaking to parents about the issue it became clear that some were concerned that their children's human rights were not being recognised. IPSEA who offer independent advice to parents with SEND children wrote about the importance of parents being able to challenge local authorities over SEND provision last year. HERE
