Campaigners protest against transport cuts for special needs kids

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Tempers flare outside council house



Tempers flared as campaigners protested outside the council house, as chants of “City of culture? City of cruelty” rang out over a megaphone.

More than 100 people attended the demonstration this lunchtime ahead of a council meeting.

Policy changes have caused parents of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to start paying Coventry City Council for transport they used to get for free.

Parents of children over the age of 16 are being asked to pay for the transport, which is £600 for ‘high income’ families and half that for ‘low income’ families.

Coventry resident Martin Green has a daughter who has been refused transport under the new council system, which prompted him to attend today’s protest.

He said: “I’m here to protest against the cuts the council have made for special needs children of this city.

“It’s an absolute disgrace, they can spend money on buildings and painting roads, but they can’t spend the money of £400,000 on getting our kids to school.

“My daughter was refused transport because she refused transport training. She also gets a mobility allowance which she’s entitled to.

“They have told us we must use that to take her to school. That is not in the contract.

“The letter didn’t say we are cutting the budget, the letter said because my daughter is disabled, she cannot get transport to school.”

Despite banners and placards arguing against cuts, councillor Kevin Maton, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, spoke with campaigners and insisted there had been no cuts.

He was joined by councillor Pervez Akhtar, but the councillors comments did little to appease many.

Another parent, Elaine Bower, said: “They’re very good politicians, aren’t they?

“They know exactly how to spin it around on you.

“My 19-year-old disabled son Sebastian has been charged £600 to be able to use his own car to go to school and back, because he’s over 16. So our personal budget has been deducted £600 at source.”

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Parents of disabled children protest against policy change that has left them ‘at breaking point’



Parents and their disabled children gathered outside Coventry Council House to protest policy changes to school transport that has left them at "breaking point".

And CoventryLive now understands a number of parents are taking legal action against the council. A spokesman for the authority said it could not comment on matters "subject to legal processes".

This school year some parents have been billed £600 for a bus service they previously got for free while others have seen fuel allowances cut or taken away completely.

The changes have been described as "age discrimination" by parents who have been told their children are no longer eligible for free transport after turning 16.

The protest, the third staged by the parents since September , saw parents gather outside the council offices with their children while councillors entered a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Contact, a charity for families with disabled children, has suggested a legal loophole has left councils able to choose to charge for transport for children aged 16 and over, despite it being a legal requirement that they stay in school.