Independent Travel Training

It is not known how many local authorities commission travel training for children with additional needs but we are aware of several that do. They see it as one of their most useful tools for enabling some children to attend school. Whilst a contracted taxi or minibus would suffice, travel training can have life-long benefits for children and can provide cashable savings for an authority.

When successful, it enables a child to travel independently for educational, social and potentially, in adult life, work purposes and gives them a skill that can be life-changing. For an authority, savings can be calculated by comparing the cost of providing conventional transport (such as a taxi and passenger assistant) with the cost of the travel training plus the cost of post-training travel arrangements. Savings are sometimes made in the academic year that the training takes place and can be very substantial for the remaining years of a child’s school life. As such, independent travel training is often considered to be an ‘invest to save’ scheme rather than additional expenditure.

We have assisted many local authorities to devise, specify and introduce successful independent travel training schemes.

If you would like to discuss this with us please contact our office on 01772 204988 or send us an email.