Papers for the Cabinet Meeting on 23 April 2024, show that despite an overwhelming rejection of the proposed changes to the 0-25 Travel Assistance Policy, Birmingham Labour are set to implement their plans to withdraw support with no alterations. The consultation revealed that 77% of parents, and 99% of schools felt that the changes would affect the ability of children to access education. Across 7 different in person consultation events, every single attendee said that there would be a strong negative impact on families. Despite this, the report says the Council intends to implement the policy unchanged.
Councillor Adam Higgs (Con, Highters Heath), Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families said:
This Labour Council is sadly well known for its high-handed attitude and refusal to listen, but even by their standards, this takes some doing. There could not have been a more unequivocal rejection of the proposals they have put forward but they have completely ignored the concerns of all those who took time out to participate in this consultation. It is yet another slap in the face for struggling parents of SEN children who have been fighting an uphill battle for years to get the council to provide them with the level of service they have every right to expect.
The proposals include the withdrawal of funding for 16-18 year olds, in a move which is feared could price some young people out of education, whilst concerns have also been raised across all age groups that the council is entrenching an adversarial appeals process that appears designed to deter families from pursuing access to support to which they are entitled.
Cllr Higgs added:
Every child, regardless of disability, should be given the opportunity and encouragement to thrive in educational attainment. The Council should be doing all it can to ensure they can access the most suitable setting for their own needs, not pulling up the drawbridge and leaving parents to have to fight ever harder for access to the support to which they are entitled. Whilst the imperative to make savings in the wake of Labour’s disastrous management of the council’s finances is clear, it should be equally clear that the council should not be punishing families for its own incompetence. This new policy appears to be a deliberate tactic to dissuade families from taking up what they are entitled to in the hope that most parents won’t appeal and so the council saves money, They may well be right in this calculation, but that doesn’t mean they are right in their moral duties.
