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 transportation must be ‘non-stressful’.  

S and another v Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council [2012] EWCA 346: This case details the circumstances where it is permissible 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 their 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.