Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with SEND use provided travel to and from educational facilities (a) nationally, (b) in Essex and (c) in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

The department does not currently routinely collect data about the number of children who have their home-to-school travel arranged by local authorities. We intend to improve our data in this area so that local authorities can benchmark themselves against similar authorities and learn from one another, and so that central and local government have the robust evidence required to inform decision making.

In February 2025, the department will start collecting data about home-to-school travel from local authorities. This will be a voluntary data collection at first, with the intention to make it mandatory once it is established.