Taxi and Education Authority agreement results in £900k savings

An agreement for more than £900,000 in savings has been reached between the Education Authority (EA) and taxi operators.

On Sunday the EA said the agreement amounted to a total saving of £918,000.

The annual bill for taxis transporting children to school has more than doubled over the past five years - rising from over £19.4m in 2020-21 to almost £40m in 2024-25.

The EA has cited the shortage of local school places for children with special educational needs (SEN) as a factor in the rising cost of transport.

This often means children must be transported to school by taxi.

"The absence of local provision for pupils has both a financial cost for EA, and, more importantly, a personal cost for pupils who have to face longer journeys than should be necessary," it said.

In December, the EA wrote to taxi drivers asking them to reduce their rates by 10%, or their contract for the work could be terminated.

The organisation claimed only 26% of NI mainstream schools provided specialist SEN classes.

"Until that number is significantly increased, too many children will continue to be educated outside their own communities," it said, "and transport will be required to ensure they don't miss out on school."

More than 4,600 pupils with SEN use a taxi to get to and from school.

The EA confirmed in January that the highest taxi rate it was being charged equated to £83 a mile.

Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Cara Hunter, who sits on Stormont's Education Committee, said that cost was "scandalous".

"There's serious questions about what checks were done before approval. Public bodies use public money and must challenge these kinds of costs up front," she told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster radio programme.

She added that taxis play an important role in filling gaps in school transport provision but currents costs were unsustainable.

The EA's chief operations officer Dale Hanna said the organisation would continue their engagement with taxi operators "to secure more savings and bear down on costs".

"We are grateful to all those operators who are working with us constructively," he said.

He said further SEN provision classes in mainstream schools were "an absolute necessity."

The EA provides transport for pupils using either Translink services or EA buses, but taxis are an option where these services are not available or appropriate.