School Transport for Children with SEND — Numbers of Applications, Refusals and Appeals
Case reference FOI2026/01555
Received 5 July 2026
Published 3 August 2026
Request
In one sentence: we are asking for a small set of yearly numbers — how many families applied for school travel assistance for a child with special educational needs or a disability, how many were refused, how many refusals were challenged, and how many challenges succeeded. We need numbers only: no personal data, no case files, no explanations of individual decisions.
WHO THIS COVERS
Children of compulsory school age (roughly ages 5 to 16) where the application for travel assistance was made because the child's special educational needs, disability or mobility problems mean they cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school. (This is the eligibility route under section 508B of, and Schedule 35B to, the Education Act 1996.) We call these "SEND-ground applications" below.
If your records cannot separate these from other transport applications, that is fine — see "If any of this is difficult" at the end.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR
For each academic year — 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 (year to date) — please provide:
1. Applications decided: the number of SEND-ground applications your authority made a decision on.
2. Refused in full: of those, the number where no travel assistance of any kind was awarded.
3. Stage 1 challenges: the number of those refusals the family asked you to look at again (your first review or appeal stage, whatever it is called locally).
4. Stage 1 successes: of those, the number where the outcome changed so that some assistance was awarded.
5. Stage 2 appeals: the number that went on to your second (final) appeal stage — an appeal panel or equivalent.
6. Stage 2 successes: of those, the number where some assistance was awarded.
And one non-numerical question:
7. Who currently decides your Stage 2 appeals:
(a) a panel independent of the original decision-makers,
(b) elected councillors, or
(c) a council officer?
Answer: A panel independent of the original decision-makers.
Please also provide a copy of, or a link to, your current home to school travel policy and appeals procedure.
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IF ANY OF THIS IS DIFFICULT
- Cannot separate SEND-ground applications? Give the same numbers for children with an Education, Health and Care plan instead; if that is also not held, give them for all home to school transport applications for children of compulsory school age. Just tell us which basis you used.
- Your appeal process has a different shape? Use your actual stages and briefly say what they are — we will map them to Stage 1 / Stage 2.
- Years: count each decision, review or appeal in the academic year (1 September to 31 August) in which its outcome was issued. Please do not spend time matching appeals back to the year of the original refusal. For 2025/26, figures up to the date you run the search are fine — please just state that date.
- Format: whatever is easiest for you — numbers typed into the table above, a system export, or an existing internal report. If your policy is to suppress small numbers, "fewer than 5" is acceptable.
- Cost limit: if answering one of the questions would take your team over the cost limit (section 12), please still answer the rest and tell us which question was the problem, in line with the section 16 duty to advise and assist — we will refine it.
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Response
In one sentence: we are asking for a small set of yearly numbers — how many families applied for school travel assistance for a child with special educational needs or a disability, how many were refused, how many refusals were challenged, and how many challenges succeeded. We need numbers only: no personal data, no case files, no explanations of individual decisions.
WHO THIS COVERS
Children of compulsory school age (roughly ages 5 to 16) where the application for travel assistance was made because the child's special educational needs, disability or mobility problems mean they cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school. (This is the eligibility route under section 508B of, and Schedule 35B to, the Education Act 1996.) We call these "SEND-ground applications" below.
If your records cannot separate these from other transport applications, that is fine — see "If any of this is difficult" at the end.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR
For each academic year — 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 (year to date) — please provide:
1. Applications decided: the number of SEND-ground applications your authority made a decision on.
Answer: 23/24 = 68
24/25 = 86
25/26 = 71
2. Refused in full: of those, the number where no travel assistance of any kind was awarded.
Answer: 23/24 = 33
24/25 = 32
25/26 = 14
3. Stage 1 challenges: the number of those refusals the family asked you to look at again (your first review or appeal stage, whatever it is called locally).
Answer: Please see the information below. Please note, the Service Area have advised this information is based on all appeals received for these academic years – whether mainstream or SEN.
23/24 = 50 stage 1 appeals received (total mainstream and SEN)
24/25 = 34 stage 1 appeals received (total mainstream and SEN)
25/26 = 66 stage 1 appeals received (total mainstream and SEN)
4. Stage 1 successes: of those, the number where the outcome changed so that some assistance was awarded.
5. Stage 2 appeals: the number that went on to your second (final) appeal stage — an appeal panel or equivalent.
6. Stage 2 successes: of those, the number where some assistance was awarded.
Answer: The information for questions 4, 5 and 6 is not held in a form that would enable it to be located, retrieved and extracted within the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Our electronic reporting systems are unable to run a report for this information. To ascertain the data requested, officers would need to manually check individual files for this information. An initial search has shown that 150 files would need to be checked for this information, and it is estimated that it would take 8 minutes to check each file. Once the details had been identified this would need to be noted and once all files had been checked in this way, the total figures requested could be calculated.
This would at a conservative estimate take at least 20 hours to complete. Where the Limit is exceeded Public Authorities are not obliged to supply the information requested by virtue of S12 of the Act. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
And one non-numerical question:
7. Who currently decides your Stage 2 appeals:
(a) a panel independent of the original decision-makers,
(b) elected councillors, or
(c) a council officer?
Answer: A panel independent of the original decision-makers.
Please also provide a copy of, or a link to, your current home to school travel policy and appeals procedure.
Answer: This information is publically available on our council website and can be viewed via the following links:
Home to School Transport Policy: https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/2rggx2iq/school_transport_policy.pdf
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
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IF ANY OF THIS IS DIFFICULT
- Cannot separate SEND-ground applications? Give the same numbers for children with an Education, Health and Care plan instead; if that is also not held, give them for all home to school transport applications for children of compulsory school age. Just tell us which basis you used.
- Your appeal process has a different shape? Use your actual stages and briefly say what they are — we will map them to Stage 1 / Stage 2.
- Years: count each decision, review or appeal in the academic year (1 September to 31 August) in which its outcome was issued. Please do not spend time matching appeals back to the year of the original refusal. For 2025/26, figures up to the date you run the search are fine — please just state that date.
- Format: whatever is easiest for you — numbers typed into the table above, a system export, or an existing internal report. If your policy is to suppress small numbers, "fewer than 5" is acceptable.
- Cost limit: if answering one of the questions would take your team over the cost limit (section 12), please still answer the rest and tell us which question was the problem, in line with the section 16 duty to advise and assist — we will refine it.
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Documents
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