26th August 2025

• Sheffield City Council is reviewing how it uses taxis for children with special educational needs (SEN). Demand for SEN transport has been growing in recent years, leading to much higher costs. Currently, about half of the children who get SEN transport in Sheffield travel by taxi – which is more than in most other local authorities.

  The council plans to review children’s transport needs more frequently, rather than wait until they move to a new setting (as was the case in the past). By doing this, they hope to see if some children can switch to different types of transport, such as shared taxis, council minibuses, personal travel budgets or independent travel training.

  Independent travel training is where an accredited trainer works on a one-to-one basis with a young person with additional needs, to help them learn how to travel safely from home to school or college. It is provided to eligible young people free of charge. More information

  A Personal Travel Budget (PTB) is an amount of money paid to parents to arrange their child’s transport to school or college. The amount is based on the travel distance. For example, a student who lives 3-5 miles away from college and attends four days per week would receive £1,094 per year. When a PTB is agreed, responsibility for getting the young person to and from school or college passes from the council to the parents.