Lib Dems call for genuine reform of SEND support as cost for special needs children’s transport stands at £1.5bn

EMBARGO: 22.30 Thursday 10 July 2025

• Labour and Tory “neglect” of SEND infrastructure has seen the cost of special needs home-to-school transport rocket up to over £1.4 billion since 2023
• The Lib Dems castigated Farage for blaming parents for high transport costs in Reform-run Kent, saying he had failed to "speak to families" struggling with the issue
• Party leader Ed Davey has launched new five new tests for SEND which if met by the Government would trigger a cross-party alliance on reforms to the special needs system 

Shocking figures on the state of SEND provision in England analysed by the Lib Dems ramp up pressure on the Government to commit to genuine reforms to the SEND system, as the party called for children’s rights to SEND support to be protected.

For children with special needs, appropriate educational settings may be hundreds of miles away – with those young people eligible for transport to school from home. FOI disclosures obtained by the Liberal Democrats have suggested that home-to-school transport for children with SEND cost £1.42 billion between 2023 and 2024, with the full sum likely to be much higher. Kent faced the largest bill of any council in England for providing home-to-school transport, which came to £68 million in 2024.

The Lib Dems castigated Reform, who now run Kent County Council, for politicking on the issue. Farage suggested this week that home-to-school funding should be removed from some families, telling the BBC that “there are things called parents” for taking children to school. While he admitted some exceptions could be made for special needs students, the clear majority of funding for home to school transport pays for SEND students’ transport – £68 of the £98 million annually. Ed Davey labelled Farage's proposal a "disaster" and said Farage had clearly failed to "take the time to speak to the families struggling with this problem".

Davey's statement comes as the cost of home-to-school transport for special needs children jumped to an average of £9,906 per child last year – up 20% on the previous year. The highest individual cost of home-to-school transport for one child with SEND cost East Sussex council £150,000.

The Lib Dems said that families struggling with a “broken” system often “don’t have” thousands of pounds to fund support for their children – calling on the Government to commit to genuine “change” to the SEND system, including building more specialist schools. Party leader Ed Davey this week launched five new tests for SEND which, if met by the Government, would trigger cross-party support for reforms to the special needs system. The tests include an expansion of specialist capacity and support for local government.

The call comes as speculation mounted this week that forthcoming Government reforms will see education, health and care plans rolled back, leading to children losing access to sorely needed SEND support.

Ed Davey MP, Liberal Democrat Leader, said:

“Parents of children with special educational needs are fighting a broken system that doesn’t provide the support they need. If the Government thinks the answer to the crisis is to roll back children’s rights, they’re totally missing the point.

“After years of Conservative underfunding and neglect, too many children aren’t getting the support they need at school and councils are having to shell out for expensive private provision.

“Nigel Farage’s plan to cut school transport would be a disaster for parents who don’t have time to drive their children on hours-long round trips to get them to special schools miles away. He’d know that if he took the time to speak to the families struggling with this problem. 

“Families desperately need change that delivers for children and parents. I really hope the Government will listen to families and councils, and work with us to finally solve this crisis.”

ENDS 

Notes to Editor:

Please find a link to collated data here.

Please find reporting on Farage’s comments on SEND home-to-school transport here, including for the £98 million figure quoted above.

Ed Davey will be visiting Oxfordshire tomorrow to discuss these statistics and the state of play in SEND governance tomorrow [11 July].