Home-to-school transport

R v Hereford and Worcester County Council, ex parte P 2 [1992] 2 FCR 732: Where an LA has responsibility for transporting a child or young person with special educational needs to school or college, that journey must be ‘non-stressful’.   

S and another v Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council [2012] EWCA 346: This case details the circumstances where it is lawful for an LA to charge parents for transport – which is where the child does not attend their nearest suitable school and to provide transport would be an inefficient use of resources.  

Staffordshire County Council v JM (SEN) [2016] UKUT 246 (AAC): When determining whether free transport is necessary for a young person aged over 19, an LA must exercise its judgment “judiciously and in good faith" – essentially it must make its decision fairly. Even if it does not consider it ‘necessary’, an LA has a discretion to pay some or all of the reasonable costs of transport if no other arrangement has been made. 

TYC (by his litigation friend and mother, KVD) v Birmingham City Council [2025] EWHC 623 (Admin): When making decisions about transport, local authorities should not:

• have a blanket policy of never providing discretionary travel arrangements, and
• has to properly think the child or young person’s circumstances.