00:00You know, they're taking costs from disabled children.
00:02I mean, you can't get much worse than that in terms of the people to pick on, can you?
00:06Fury and frustration from one Bidborough mother,
00:09who's at a loss on how to get her 18-year-old son with complex needs, Thomas, to school.
00:16Now that Kent County Council is set to change 16-plus transport provision
00:22for children with special educational needs or disabilities.
00:26So it's a lot of stress for the parents and a lot of stress for the children.
00:30As well, who are understandably really upset by not knowing what arrangements they're going to have next year.
00:36My son Thomas loves his taxi, he loves his transport, and he really doesn't want this to change.
00:42Thomas is used to getting a familiar bus to school with all his friends, arranged by the council.
00:47But from September, Caroline will be given £4,000 to figure out how to get him to school herself.
00:55He didn't want to be filmed, but told me a change in his routine would be difficult to manage.
01:02Whilst that might seem like quite a good deal for a lot of people, I'm sure that seems like an
01:05awful lot of money,
01:06but actually it's not when you think about having to get a disabled person to the school.
01:14Booking a taxi every day, twice a day, for five days a week, can quickly rack up well above the
01:22allocated spending allowance by the council.
01:25So what some families might be forced to do then is put their child on the public bus, which of
01:31course is much cheaper.
01:32For Thomas, this would mean a 20-minute walk to stop, and suddenly a 15-minute car journey would now
01:40take over an hour if he commutes this week.
01:44Thomas told me he didn't think he'd be able to do it on his own.
01:48Beverley Fordham, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, declined an interview,
01:54but she did send me a response where she outlined that there is no automatic right to free transport after
02:01age 16,
02:02and that travelling independently, where safe, is an important step towards further education, employment and greater self-reliance.
02:10But Caroline's ward councillor, John Moreland, disagrees.
02:14So do you think the council should be in charge of arranging and paying for this transport for send children?
02:21Short answer is yes. I would caveat that saying there is no one-size-fits-all,
02:27but the council have a legal duty to ensure that a child accesses education.
02:34And where a child's needs are more specialised, where they are more vulnerable,
02:39then the council's obligations to that child increases.
02:43It's a long wait for Caroline to see if her appeal would be accepted.
02:47But for Thomas, who is distressed at a change to his familiar routine at school,
02:53it's a bumpy road from here on out.
02:56Megan Shaw in Bibera.
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