£80,000 taxi fare to send schoolboy round the houses.

A British county council has landed local taxpayers with an £80,000 bill for the cost of a 10 year olds taxi fare to school.10 year old Daniel Foulds-Holt of Edburton has been assigned his second choice grammar school – one for which there is no bus service from his house. As a result, Daniel will be forced to travel by taxi to and from school, the cost of which will be funded by the local authority, West Sussex County Council to the tune of £80,000 over five years of schooling.

Catchment area red tape

Daniel could have travelled easily by bus if he had been assigned to his first choice school in Downlands. However, it has emerged that he was turned down because he lives just 350 metres outside its catchment area.

Daniel’s mother, Ros Foulds told the Telegraph newspaper:

“It makes no sense at all. It puts my son in a ridiculous position, it’s a financial waste and it’s environmentally damaging. He would have preferred to have gone to Downlands but is happy to go to Steyning. It’s just how he will get there that’s the problem.”

Cllr Peter Griffiths, West Sussex County Council member for Education, said in a statement that Daniel’s appeal to be moved to his first choice school had failed because of the problems associated with being asked to admit further pupils as a result:

Millions per year wasted

Concerned about the cost to the taxpayer, Daniel’s parents made a request under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how much taxi travel costs their local council each year. The figure comes in at an eye-watering £5.5 million in 2008/9 alone.

Mrs. Foulds added:

“We can all understand spending money on taxis for children with special needs, but what shocks me is that not far short of £1m is being spent on people like Daniel who could get on a bus.”

And the problem is indeed widespread. Further Freedom of Information requests have revealed that Peterborough City Council spent over £1,000 per child on travel costs, totalling £2,358,518. Of the 2,228 children, 409 were taken to school in a taxi.

Cabinet member for Peterborough’s education and children’s services councillor Stephen Goldspink said to the Peterborough Telegraph:

“The admission system needs to be reformed, and this is something I am making every effort to clear up. We are looking at reviewing every pupil’s needs and finding more appropriate forms of transport.”

Do you think catchment area rules have gone too far? Have your say.