Flexible post-16 SEND home-to-school transport prioritising tailored support and independence, has been approved following public consultation.

The Education, Children and Families Policy Committee has made Personal Travel Budgets (PTB) optional to existing students accessing SEND travel support, but the first option for new student applications.

The Freedom to Travel-Skills to Life programme will be expanded to empower independent travel training for Post-16 students, while increased fees to taxi and minibus provision is subject to consultation. 

Councillor Dawn Dale, Chair of the Education, Children and Families Committee, said: “Sheffield City Council has always firmly believed the city should be a place where all children belong, and all young people can build a successful future.

“We set out to improve the service we have been providing for Sheffield’s children, and where we have already been making strides in this area. This consultation has helped us revise that further to be more tailored to people’s needs.”

975 individuals – primarily parents and carers – participated in the consultation which ran from 14th January to 12th February 2025.

The primary concerns raised were the impracticality and financial burdens of the council’s proposals on families. 

Fern Major-Walton, 37, from High Green, has relied on minibuses for her autistic son, Logan.

When we spoke to her in March, she said that mandatory PTBs would be ‘a lot of stress’ for her family.

Following these updates, Mrs Major-Walton has been able to apply for Logan’s transport to continue when he starts college in September.

She said: “He is unable to access public transport and travel training also wouldn’t work for us.”

Gaynor Stevenson, mother of 20-year-old Robert, has witnessed how travel training has ‘opened [her son’s] life up’.

She said: “He had never been on public transport on his own without a sibling, an adult or a member of staff from school.

“Now, he is independently travelling back and forth from Sixth Form twice a week.

“If you ask Robert, it’s improved his confidence and given him a sense of self-worth.”

Sheffield has experienced a significant surge in demand for its home-to-school travel service, mirroring national trends, with user numbers increasing by 6.5% between March 2024 and February 2025.

This figure is projected to rise by up to 25% by September 2026.