Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 23
70th Report - Home-to-school transport
Published 6 Mar 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Home-to-school transport All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department and MHCLG explained that there were different calculations for SEND and mainstream funding to account for the additional costs associated with SEND transport, but that both were based on pupil populations and adjusted distances to school. For both mainstream and SEND transport, the formula uses pupil populations for children of compulsory school age only (5–16 years); it does not cover funding for post- 16 transport.57 Although at £0.2 billion in 2023–24 it represents a small proportion of overall spending, the Department told us SEND-related transport for 16 to18-year-olds was growing even faster than for those aged 5 to 16.58
From: Public Accounts Committee, 70th Report - Home-to-school transport (HC 1238), 6 March 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 June 2026 (deadline 6 May 2026).