Birmingham special needs school travel plan unlawful – mum

The mother of a Birmingham teenager with special educational needs is mounting a legal challenge against council changes to his school transport.

Sabiha Aziz is fighting cuts for 16-19 year olds which mean that from September, the family will receive 45p per mile for their own travel arrangements instead of a minibus.

Ms Aziz said: “I have three children at three different schools. My husband works full-time. I can’t be in three places at the same time, twice a day.”

The council said it had maintained support for families to make their own arrangements, with extra help for those most affected.

Ms Aziz’s son Adam, 18, has severe learning difficulties, autism and epilepsy.

For 10 years the council has provided a minibus and a carer to take him to school, which is around 6 miles away from their home in Acocks Green.

“Adam is severely learning disabled. He’s an 18 year old with the brain of a one-year-old. He has no sense of danger. He can’t be independently travel trained and we have a plethora of evidence from experts. This is a budget-centred response.”

Solicitors Irwin Mitchell, acting on Ms Aziz’s behalf have submitted a formal letter before action to the council.

It claims the council didn’t give regard to statutory guidance or comply with equality legislation when determining the assistance required.

Mother-of-three Ms Aziz runs a support group, Special Educational Needs and Disability Parent Action Group (SENDPAG), and said other parents were also considering legal action.

“It feels like a very important fight. It shouldn’t be the case that our disabled young people should lose out on their education, because the service has to save millions of pounds through no fault of our own.”

Birmingham City Council said last month it had to make a further £80m in savings in the next financial year, on top of £300m over two years already announced.

The Children’s, Young People and Families department needs to find £51.5m savings in the next financial year.

The Labour-run authority said: “An extensive consultation process was carried out to make parents aware of the changes which were communicated through schools and other stakeholders.”

“The council has maintained a level of support that enables families to make their own arrangements and has been providing additional support to our most vulnerable students and families.”

Irwin Mitchell has given the council until 13 August to respond to the letter. If a resolution isn’t found, solicitors will seek to launch a judicial review of the case.

Solicitor Erika Wright from Irwin Mitchell said: “The council has a duty to provide a home-to-school transport policy to facilitate attendance at school.

“We believe the new policy is unlawful because a personal transport budget doesn’t meet the needs of learners with a high level of need, such as Adam.”

Ms Wright said that parents of SEND children have an ongoing fight to get what their children need, and feel like they face “hurdle after hurdle”.

“We have put forward legal arguments to support our client’s case, which is that every child and young person of sixth form age has a legal right to be able to get to their place of education,” she added.