Liverpool Council is spending more than £100,000 a week on taxis to take children to school.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that provisions are made through taxi companies for around 1,000 children to get to school across the city - representing about half of the 2,100 transported daily. This comes at a cost of £106,000 a week, or more than £5.5m a year.
The council provides subsidised transport for children up to age 16 who may be entitled to depending on the distance from home to school and if they meet certain eligibility criteria. According to its Home to School Transport policy, children aged 11-16 from low income families are entitled to free travel to one of their nearest three suitable qualifying schools where they live more than two miles, but less than six miles from that school.
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Children from low income families who attend the nearest suitable qualifying school preferred on grounds of religion or belief are entitled to free transport where they live more than two miles, but not more than 15 miles from that school. The lower limit will be measured along the shortest walking route.
The six and 15 mile upper limits are measured by the shortest available road route. Low income eligibility is reviewed on an annual basis through the renewal process and all relevant information must be provided with an application.
Through Liverpool Council’s transport framework, the local authority works with 12 registered taxi firms to get children to school every day. Of the 1,000 or so it provides the service for, 55 are taken outside of the local authority area at a cost of £33,000 a week.
For those children who are taken outside of Liverpool, passenger attendants are required to accompany them on their journey, which is also at an eye watering cost to the council. The FOI response revealed that around £2.5m a year is laid out to ensure the children are safely accompanied on their journey.
Cllr Kris Brown, Liberal Democrat member for Woolton and Garston, and chair of Liverpool Council’s audit committee, said he would call for a report and investigation into the figures and queried if the local authority was achieving best value. He said: "It’s incumbent on us to ensure that we are making sure we are getting paid back for taking these children into other local authority areas.
“Yes, £100,000 is obviously a lot of money and is that truly an example of us getting best value? There may be some kind of agreement between the providers but it would make sense at least to strike some kind of deal for a reduced fee.
“I hope they have considered other options such as hiring minibuses which would be greener and cheaper.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool Council said: “All applications made under the Home to School Transport Policy, which is based on statutory guidance, are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The assessment takes many factors into consideration including the distance from home to school, the age of the child, parental ability to take children to school, the availability of public transport, and special education needs and disabilities.
“Taxis are only used once other options have been explored and deemed to be unsuitable, such as travel training for public transport and funding travel passes. Some journeys by taxi may also be for a temporary period, for example if a child is recovering from an injury that limits their mobility. All transport provision is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is still needed or that the right support is being provided.
“We are currently also consulting on our special schools provision which will increase the number of places and reduce the number of lengthy journeys currently faced by some pupils. As always, our duty is to ensure that children and young people can continue their education at the most appropriate school with minimal disruption, which in a small number of cases also includes children travelling to schools in another borough.”
