​Editorial: Taxi costs raise big questions on public finances under pressure from SEN rise

The revelation that the Education Authority is paying out up to £83 per mile for taxi companies to take children to school raises serious questions about public finances.

The shocking figure – unearthed by journalists at the Press Association – also raises questions about how the state can continue to meet the soaring costs of special educational needs provision.

There was controversy recently when the Education Authority (EA) wrote to taxi drivers seeking a 10% cut in the rate they charge for school runs.

The Alliance Party and Sinn Fein have hit out at the EA, with an Alliance MLA saying “parents should not be penalised for years of inaction” by the body.

However, the challenges facing the EA are not unique to Northern Ireland. There have been warnings that some local councils in England are on the verge of bankruptcy as the requirements for special educational needs (SEN) provision rises.

An Audit Office report cited home to school transport as one of the fastest-growing areas of spending for [English] local authorities.

In Northern Ireland, there was been a 51% rise in the number of children with statements for special educational needs, between 2017/18 and 2023/24. Education officials say that has resulted in a 114% increase in expenditure in the same period.

What is driving this is the cause of much debate, and there are no simple answers. Some experts point to lockdown and poverty as factors. There are also questions about criteria for diagnosis – and whether they are too broad.

Politicians must get to the bottom of how the EA ends up paying such exorbitant prices to taxi firms – but they must also address wider issues about why SEN provision has reached a clearly unsustainable level.