A recent report by GB News has highlighted how some UK councils are offering parents thousands of pounds a year to transport their own children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to school.
The article explains that instead of relying on contracted taxis and minibuses, councils are increasingly providing personal transport budgets, allowing parents to make their own travel arrangements. In some cases, payments can reach up to £5,000 per year, depending on distance and local authority criteria.
Councils say the move is aimed at reducing rising home-to-school transport costs, which have increased sharply in recent years. The practice is legal and is being used by a growing number of authorities as an alternative to specialist taxi provision.
DM News Commentary
This is a quietly significant shift — and one that directly affects the taxi and private hire trade.
SEND transport has long been a major source of steady, contracted work for taxi and private hire operators. Councils encouraging parents to self-transport may reduce costs on paper, but it also removes professional drivers, licensed vehicles, safeguarding checks, and insurance-backed accountability from the equation.
For parents who are able and willing, flexibility can be a benefit. But for the wider transport network, this raises questions about consistency, safety standards, and long-term impact on specialist taxi operators who rely on council contracts to stay viable.
As councils continue to look for savings, this approach could expand — and operators may find more education transport work quietly disappearing unless national guidance brings clearer balance between cost, care, and professional provision.
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