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.
