Mileage rate for transporting ASN child to school

sogs

Just a quick question I have been transporting my son to and from school daily for the past month due to his anxiety and not coping around others the local council pay 26p per mile, the school is 7 miles from home just wanted to know if the mileage rate differs from council to council?

thanks

tomtontom

Can you clarify - the council pay you for taking your own child to school?

bigbulldog

Blimey does that mean I can claim mileage back to take my disabled wife to her hospital appointments and dental appointments and even if I take her out for the day.????????

Richie-from-the-Boro

Parental Contracts

Some LA's do pay parents or carers, this reduces the number of contractors currently required providing a net saving [a contractor would be paid for both journeys where the pupil is absent from school / college placements on that day] the parent is paid journey specific.

System

When my dd's anxiety became too bad to travel to school on the la provided transport we took her and picked her up , it never occurred to claim money back !
She is our daughter and will do whatever we can to help her at our cost.

cattermole

Hold your horses here guys before you start criticising parents for claiming mileage for taking their child to school!!

If they are in a special school, they are transported by the LEA. Please read the 7 miles he is taking them. This isn't a new phenomenon all Children in Special schools get help with transport or should do. If they attend a mainstream school that they would have done anyway with or without a disability (they don't get help with transport unless there are other factors). It is also recorded on the Statement or should be regarding Transport. Parents with children with severe disabilities who are placed in Special Schools some distance away get transport provided and rightly so. For all sorts of reasons that I don't think a parent should have to justify when they have a severely disabled child,. Some in this situation do transport themselves and are therefore entitled to reclaim a small mileage amount to cover the cost of fuel.

OP in our LA going back many moons ago it was 20p so 25p sounds about right. It will probably vary from LA to LA but I doubt by much,

dori2o

It sounds like a similar scheme to Access to Work where some people have funding provided to travel to work by taxi where they are unable to travel by public transport/in their own car, and personally I think it's a great scheme which allows kids to attend schools which provide them with the best possible means of gaining an education despite their health issues.

As the OP said, the school is 7 miles away from home, and whilst in most cases kids would travel on the LEA's provided transport which is usually door to door, some kids just aren't able to use this method, and so either the parent takes them and is able to claim back the travel cost or in some cases taxi's are provided.

The alternative is that these kids go to the most local school which ost likely doesn't have the knowledge, facilities, time, teachers to deal with the issues the OP's child faces. Thus rendering much of their educational years a waste of time.

If the scheme guarantees the child the best possible education, then I fully support it, and any scheme which cuts the financial burden that disability/learning difficulties cause to families.

tomtontom

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Parental Contracts

Some LA's do pay parents or carers, this reduces the number of contractors currently required providing a net saving [a contractor would be paid for both journeys where the pupil is absent from school / college placements on that day] the parent is paid journey specific.

There is no net saving to be made when it is a parent's responsibility to get their child to school. Seven miles is no great distance, my school was 10 miles away and we never thought of asking someone else to pay.

OP, if your child has difficulties coping in public then you should apply for DLA - such funding is intended for the additional costs associated with disability.

sogs

Thank you so much to dori20, cattermole & richie-from-the-bro for being so understanding and non judgemental. Some people can be really hurtful with there comments, just for the record my son is disabled and attends a special school and is "Entitled to transport" by taking him myself it does actually save the council money as they would have to provide a driver and escort which amounts to more than what they give me, I'm sure you wouldn't travel 28 miles round journey everyday and the wear and tear on your car 5 times per week?? people can claim travel for attending hospital appointments when on certain benefits so what is the difference, I don't have any shame in asking for financial assistance from the council when we pay council tax and income tax like most other people.

tomtontom

sogs wrote: »

Thank you so much to dori20, cattermole & richie-from-the-bro for being so understanding and non judgemental. Some people can be really hurtful with there comments, just for the record my son is disabled and attends a special school and is "Entitled to transport" by taking him myself it does actually save the council money as they would have to provide a driver and escort which amounts to more than what they give me, I'm sure you wouldn't travel 28 miles round journey everyday and the wear and tear on your car 5 times per week?? people can claim travel for attending hospital appointments when on certain benefits so what is the difference, I don't have any shame in asking for financial assistance from the council when we pay council tax and income tax like most other people.

Can you not claim DLA to help with travel costs, or do you receive this funding on top of that? Are you aware that many parents take their children to school etc seven miles away and further, and they do that because that is part of having a child? I can only hope your son does not realise what a burden he apparently is to you

Richie-from-the-Boro

tomtontom wrote: »

There is no net saving to be made when it is a parent's responsibility to get their child to school. Seven miles is no great distance, my school was 10 miles away and we never thought of asking someone else to pay.

OP, if your child has difficulties coping in public then you should apply for DLA - such funding is intended for the additional costs associated with disability.

- its not the parents but the LA's contractual and legal [In Loco Parentis] responsibility for children with additional support needs
- many primary age pupils who attend special schools will also require an escort to fulfil their additional support needs.
- in order to full fill its statutory requirements the LA in this case sub contracts back to the parent, examples would be :

- - wheelchair / buggy user who lives more than 'x' miles from the school
- - medical reasons for requiring transport / heart / poor balance / coordination
- - any condition that would make walking to school very difficult or likely to exacerbate their condition
- - attending a special school where parent can not be at both schools for start / finish times
- - severe form of Autism Spectrum disorder / can not manage walk due to traffic noise / other sensory issues
- - and lots of others I can think of but you get the idea

In my #4 I expressed no opinion on the rights or wrongs of the policy, or of the parents, I simply stated the facts as they exist, but to say that """There is no net saving to be made""" when sending a driver & transport plus escort two trips a day for the school year is not true and wildly inaccurate, it's a very significant saving.