Oxfordshire school transport failures leave hundreds of families stranded

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 4 Nov, 06:21 · Archive

Hundreds of families in Oxfordshire have been left without special needs school transport for over half a term, with the council's promised October resolution not materialising.

Parents in Oxfordshire say they feel 'blamed' for what they describe as council failures in organising special educational needs (SEND) school transport. Hundreds of families have been affected and cases remain unresolved despite the County Council's promise to deal with them by the end of October.

Lauren Normanton, 43, told the County Council on Tuesday, November 3, that she feels 'vulnerable' and 'at the mercy of a system which clearly is not working'. Her 15-year-old son, who has autism, is non-verbal and has a range of needs, lost the school transport that had been in place for nine years. She says she was told a deadline had been missed for reapplying for transport, an application she was never informed about and had not been required in previous years.

Meanwhile, Normanton has been driving her son on a two-hour round trip to school each day. She works one day a week and had been hoping to increase her hours, but has been unable to do so because of the transport situation. She said that after repeated attempts to contact the council, she was finally able to speak to a person on Monday, November 2, but does not feel closer to a resolution.

How it is being reported

• Independent SEND transport review on holdAn independent review will not take place into failings to provide home to school transport.BBC Oxford · 4 Nov, 06:05
• Call for inquiry as school transport 'council failures' not resolvedParents say they feel "blamed" for "council failures" that have left children without school transport and are calling for an independent review.Oxfordshire Guardian · 4 Nov, 05:00
• Call for inquiry as school transport 'council failures' not resolvedParents say they feel "blamed" for "council failures" that have left children without school transport and are calling for an independent review.Oxford Mail · 4 Nov, 05:00

In this story: Oxfordshire County Council · Lauren Normanton · Oxfordshire

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