Transporting children to school will cost county £53 million this year… millions more than expected

Transporting children to school is costing Lincolnshire County Council £3m more than expected this year, figures show.

The authority says it’s looking at the most cost-effective methods in order to keep prices under control.

It delivers around 19,000 children each day across the county, with an increasing proportion of them having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

A improvement plan has been put in place to control the overall expense, which is described as a ‘significant strategic risk’ to the council due to its size.

It costs just over £17 to transport a mainstream primary school child per day, £6 for a secondary pupil and around £40 for a child at a SEND school.

The number of SEND children with plans which may require transport has doubled over the last eight years, leading to higher costs.

The council is currently looking at spending £3m more than its £50m annual budget as demand has grown.

Inflation and fuel prices have also put up prices over the last few years.

However, approximately £2.5m has been saved over the last few months by asking children to share vehicles wherever possible.

A council report said: “Staff have focused attention on route optimisation as a priority, which involves amending vehicle arrangements to accommodate more children (reducing number of vehicles on the road) and using one vehicle to collect several children with the shortest possible distance being required by the operator.

“This was intended to create a £2m financial saving across the full year which is forecasted to be both achieved and exceeded.”

The council is also looking to recoup costs from other authorities where a child goes to school in Lincolnshire but lives out of county.

This could save around £750,000 this year.

The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the council’s Audit Committee on Monday, November 11.