This case challenged the arrangements made for transporting a boy with Down’s Syndrome to a special school. The minibus journey was not a direct journey to school as it collected and dropped off a number of other children to different schools. The journey took an hour each way. Because of his condition, the child was inappropriately vigorous and had to be strapped in all the time. If the minibus took the most direct route to the child's school, the journey would take half an hour each way.

The Judge ruled as follows:

“it is implicit in section 55(1) of the Education Act 1944 [now replaced by section 508B of the Education Act 1996] that the LA is under a duty to make such arrangements as it considers necessary for a child to reach school without undue stress, strain or difficulty such as would prevent him from benefiting from the education the school has to offer ... it follows that where a child with special educational needs requires transport to get him to school the transport which the LA proposes to make available must therefore be non-stressful transport … ”

No case report is available online.

For more information, see our section on home-to-school transport.