Boy with autism faces quitting school after taxi cut

The mother of a teenager with special educational needs is calling on a council to reverse its decision to stop paying for the support he needs to get him to school.

Now that Tatjana's son Luke has turned 16, Somerset Council says it no longer has a statutory obligation to pay for his transport, which includes a taxi and an in-car support worker.

His family said they can not afford to pay for transport, and are "on their knees" trying to take Luke to school themselves.

Somerset Council's lead member for Children, Families and Education, Heather Shearer, said it was "under pressure to consider anything that's not a statutory obligation".

Luke is autistic and has a sensory processing disorder as well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

From May to July this year he had been travelling to school in a specialist taxi with a trained driver as he was unable to travel safely on the council-funded school bus with other children.

Since Luke turned 16, however, the council has offered the family a Personal Travel Payment (PTP) of 50p per mile of his journey to school.

His mother said the PTP did not cover the £97 cost per journey for the specialised taxi to get her son to his school three miles away from home.

Tatjana is challenging the council's decision to remove Luke's support.

"Luke has no road safety, no danger safety," she said. "He's not going to be safe.

"For him to go to school he does need one-to-one support."

Tatjana said she, Luke's step-dad and Luke's father, have made temporary plans to get their son to school - meaning two of them have to drive him every day.

This is particularly difficult due to physical difficulties both Tatjana's partner and former partner have.

Her partner has a spinal problem and is waiting for an operation and her former husband is a leg amputee, following a motorcycle accident.

She, like Luke, has autism and ADHD.

"He [Luke] has no capacity to understand the changes," she said. "He's hitting in school, he's hitting the learners - he's hitting us."

Currently 120 Send (special educational needs and disability) children and young adults post-16 (16-25) are receiving transport support to an educational setting in Somerset.

Ms Shearer said the local authority encourage children as much as possible to travel independently post-16.

She said the council put a lot of "care and consideration" into dealing with every case.

"We have really done everything we possibly can to consider this particular situation and the next step would be for that person or family to talk to the local government ombudsman," she added.

Gideon Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, said Luke's family were "far from the minority" when it comes to Send support.

He said: "He's not getting the support he needs and it's a huge challenge and burden for the parents to try and hold down full-time jobs at the same time as having to provide two-to-one to get Luke to school.

"The council is in a really difficult position. It hasn't got the money that families need for the support they need.

"The whole system is broken," he added.

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

The Labour government has promised to publish its plans on how to reform Send provision in England this autumn.

Last week it said it is "listening to families" as it puts together its plans in an effort to "transform outcomes for every child with special educational needs".