ESCC-JL Independent Travel Training

Tender description

ESCC have a legal responsibility to ensure that children and young people who live in East Sussex are able to travel safely to school or college. This is part of the ESCC Council Plan promise to: • Support the most vulnerable people • Help make East Sussex prosperous and safe • Encourage personal and community responsibility The national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reform agenda has instigated a change in the Local Authority offer by putting families at the centre of planning for their children and giving greater focus on choice and control over areas of support. In the Preparing for Adulthood guidance it makes clear that ‘Good support for independent living will include independent travel training’, and this is now included in a section of a child’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). In its review of the Raising of Participation Age, the Department for Education (DfE) stressed the importance of ITT. Many of our students with SEND receive home to school travel assistance, often in the form of a scheduled taxi or minibus. ESCC are faced with rising costs for school to home transport at the same time as requirements to reduce spend. The average cost per day for a pupil travelling using a Freedom (bus) Ticket is £3.20, coach travel is £5.16, and a taxi is between £35 and £40 per day. ESCC therefore attaches two key benefits to a successful ITT service: cost savings and a positive impact on the individuals who are trained to become more independent. Children and young people with physical, behavioural or learning disabilities are often perceived as unable to make use of public transport or to travel alone by their parents and/or schools or colleges. However, as they grow older, many of this cohort develop the potential for independent travel; and could benefit from independent travel training.