Setting the record straight on Personal Travel Budgets
2 mins read
Tuesday 20 January 2026
Over the last couple of days, there have been news reports about parents of disabled children ‘getting paid’ to transport their children to school in England.
Contact is concerned that this completely misrepresents the situation and risks fuelling resentment.
Strict criteria
Anna Bird, Chief Executive of Contact, said:
“We know through our helpline and support services that Personal Travel Budgets are being used more by local authorities to reimburse parents who are taking their child to school. These are not cash windfalls. They are only available to children who meet the strict criteria to be eligible to get home to school transport. They are not easy to get.”
One newspaper report suggested parents were getting a Personal Travel Budget, but were walking or cycling their child to school. We have never heard of this.
Parents driving considerable distances
Instead, what we hear day in and day out, is that many parents are driving considerable distances to transport their child to school because there is not a suitable school locally.
They are reimbursed for the cost of petrol, but not for the wear and tear on their car and not for the hours each week they spend transporting their child. Many have to give up work. Far from ‘being paid’, families are absorbing the cost of a system that does not meet their child’s needs.
Anna Bird added:
“Many children have care needs through the night and cannot be safely transported to school on public transport. Families with disabled children would love nothing more than to wave their child off for the school day, to catch the bus or walk with friends, but this is not their reality.”
Transport to school and college
We have lots of information about school transport to school and college for disabled children across the UK.
