On the 8^th October the Conservative Cabinet running Warwickshire County Council took the controversial decision to remove free transport entitlement for pre-school children attending the County’s specialist nurseries, with immediate effect for new applicants.

This decision was against the advice of the Children’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and was immediately challenged and called-in by Liberal Democrat and Labour members. A further special meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the 22^nd October failed to resolve matters, so the issue was referred to a special meeting of the Full Council held at Shire Hall, Warwick today.

Cllr John Whitehouse, the Lib Dem spokesperson for Education & Learning, proposed a motion that deferred any decision to remove free transport for at least six months, while a detailed review was carried out by officers and elected members. The motion was seconded by the Labour chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and was accepted by the Conservatives with minor amendments to wording. The revised motion was then supported unanimously by all councillors present.

John Whitehouse said after the meeting:

“The original decision by the Conservative Cabinet was a very bad one, hitting vulnerable children and their families extremely hard financially, and putting the future of the specialist nurseries at risk without proper assessment of risk or impact.

“Today was a good day for the scrutiny process, and for determined and constructive opposition. I’m proud of the fact that the Liberal Democrats have stood up for the rights of a small group of vulnerable children and their families who would have been hit very hard by the cuts originally planned. The full facts will now be on the table before any further decisions on this matter are considered.”

 

ENDS

Note:

The full text of the motion proposed today by Cllr Whitehouse was as follows:-

This Council believes that the Cabinet should defer the proposed savings proposal Transport to Specialist Nursery Provision (Recommendation 11 to Cabinet of 8 October 2015), for the following reasons:

1. A significant number of parents/carers make informed choices to use specialist nurseries for their high level SEND child rather than more local mainstream provision, because they believe that this best meets the needs of the child. Officers have not produced compelling evidence that parents/carers are wrong, and that these needs could be met equally well and cost-effectively for all high level SEND children in mainstream nursery settings.
2. The removal of free transport to/from specialist nurseries would put the opportunity to make use of this provision to meet the needs of their high level SEND child beyond the financial reach of many families. The impact of the proposed saving would be most severe on those least able to afford it.
3. Very few high level SEND children attending specialist nurseries are currently in receipt of an SEN statement or Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP). The impact of introducing this assessment process for these children, and how many would then qualify for free transport to meet their needs, has not been assessed.
4. The sustainability of the specialist nurseries would be undermined, leading potentially to their closure. The impact of this happening has not been assessed, nor the cost involved.
5. There are alternative ways of achieving the great majority of the proposed cost savings in transport to special nurseries, for example by moving to full-day nursery provision, which have not been properly explored.

The Council recommends that the Children’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee be asked to conduct an in-depth scrutiny review of the matter, and to report back to Cabinet within a period of six months.