Children in special educational needs in Wokingham are being sent as far as Somerset and Buckinghamshire for their education, an investigation can reveal.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Wokingham Borough Council’s costs of transportations have jumped by more than 80 per cent in two years.
More than £3 million was spent by Wokingham Borough Council in SEN transportation costs last year.
Although most children are sent to neighbouring Bracknell and Reading, some are being sent as far as Somerset and Buckinghamshire, journeys which take one to two hours to drive to.
Figures also show the number of children being sent outside the borough as on the rise – from 239 in 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Wokingham Borough Council says this reflects an ‘exponential increase’ in demand for SEN provision, which inner-borough capacity has ‘not kept up with’.
It comes as more children have been sent outside the borough for their education on a yearly basis – rising from 239 in the 2020 to 2021 academic year, to 343 in 2023 to 2024. A total of £3.4 million was spent on transportation in 2023/24, while £1.9 million was spend in 2021/22.
Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) has told the News that this rise is due to an increased demand in support through Education, Health and Care Plans (ECHPs), as well as a jump in costs for transportation services.
Councils have the legal obligation to deliver the plans within 20 weeks, consult with schools, pay potential fees and secure their transport to and from school if the child is unable to walk.
This process remains one of the biggest pressures on WBC’s like many other authorities across the country.
As many authorities suffer with a lack of inner-borough provision, this transportation can often be costly, requiring longer journeys.
Alongside this there has been a marked rise in the average cost of transport across England, which has risen by a third in the past five years.
Councillor Prue Bray, executive member for children’s services, demand for EHCPs that have been issued has ‘increased exponentially’ since 2019.
This is down to the ‘impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant population growth in the borough and by the council’s improvements in earlier identification of need’.
The council is currently working to secure more specialist provision within the Wokingham Borough – some of which has already been delivered.
Oak Tree school and an early year’s centre at Addington Special school both opened in 2023. The early years centre has also expanded to take more spaces at the start of this academic year.
Two new specialist schools will be built through the Safety Valve programme with the Department for Education.
Cllr Bray said: “This will reduce the need to place a child outside of the borough, however there will always be cases when a child’s need must be met in a highly specialised provision outside of the borough.”
