To ask the Minister of Education to detail the current arrangements and criteria for home to school transport for children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Where the Education Authority (EA) maintains a statement of Special Educational Needs under Article 16 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, the decisions about that pupil's placement and their entitlement to transport assistance are made by the EA. The EA Statutory Assessment and Review Service (SARS) assesses if a pupil with a statement of SEN has additional transport requirements and, if so, a referral is made to the EA transport service who work to put those arrangements in place.

Where SARS has identified that a pupil has additional transport needs, the general criteria of the Department for Education (DE) Home to School Transport Policy may be set aside, however the EA must ensure that the placement and transport arrangements are compatible with the efficient use of resources. Transport assistance may not be available if parents choose to bypass the nearest suitable school identified by EA SARS.

Where a pupil with a statement of SEN has no additional transport needs, an application for transport assistance must be made to the EA Transport Service in the regular manner and pupils are assessed against the criteria in DE's transport policy. Pupils may be eligible for transport assistance under the DE policy where there is no suitable school within statutory walking distance of their home, which is 2 miles in the case of a primary school pupil and 3 miles for post-primary pupils. A suitable school for a pupil with a statement of SEN is determined during the statutory assessment process and if parents choose to bypass the nearest suitable school identified by EA SARS, transport assistance may not be available.