FEATURE FOCUS: SEND
time-consuming process that doesn’t lend itself to query and change. But even when authorities use automated planning, they rarely compare products to assess the quality of results. Optimised route planning gives planners’
visibility of operational constraints and more time and headspace to concentrate on contract management and stakeholder communication; it saves money on contracts, it improves the client experience, and it reduces emissions. The planners’ job is complex, but technology can help them.
Route optimisation in practice The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and we strongly advocate comparing routing solutions. Our customers regularly save 10%-15% on contracts. As an example, one of our customers, found the software helped them secure savings of more than £270k; 115 miles per day; and over 3 hours of combined travel time for student - to just one school. The total savings, including those from the ongoing reduction in contracted vehicles, are now approaching £1m. The plans the software provides also better
reflect the needs of children, such as extended boarding times for wheelchairs and whether passenger assistants are required. It is simple to describe vehicle types and fleets and adapt that to the requirement – for example, a vehicle may be defined with different layouts to carry 16 walk-on pupils or 14 walk-ons and one wheelchair. During Covid planning, it was easy to set up and optimise for socially-distanced fleets. All of these factors free up planners’ time to
focus on other areas; giving them the tools they need to enable better communication with families, schools and the transport providers, relieving pressure on all sides. Particularly this year, when tensions have been running higher than usual.
Who or what is responsible for change? Providing a better transport option for children with special educational needs is the responsibility of transport planning departments, but they don’t work in isolation. Education departments, schools, and transport operators all play a part,
and it’s important that all these parties communicate openly with the families involved to avoid putting them through any distress. Too often there is a lack of cohesion between
all of these parties that urgently needs to be addressed if we are improve this service fully. By encouraging complete collaboration end-to-end, we could create an experience that ensures children are travelling in the most suitable transport for their needs, but also the most fuel efficient, that they are picked up and dropped off at the right location – on time – and that the families of that child are informed of every decision, perhaps given a choice, and know exactly who to speak to if they have a concern. Of course, much of this boils down to the F-
word, funding. Funding for SEN schools has fallen 17% since 2015. But funding needs to be met with a willingness for scrutiny to guarantee value for money. Routing is just one element of SEND transport, but a good quality routing solution can make an enormous difference to the overall spend.
We can start to fix this now Although there is room for improvement, there are also lots of positive examples of best practice. We see compassion and commitment in the people we come into contact with – a real desire to create a better service and improve lives for children with SEND and their families. And despite the fall in funding, some money is filtering through and authorities are investing in new provision: Wiltshire is investing £33m in special schools in the north of the county; and Surrey County Council has just announced that it is using funding received from government in 2019 to create 213 additional specialist school places to save children having to make excessively long journeys outside the county. When things do go wrong with home-to-
school transport, support is available for families through the excellent charity Contact, who can provide guidance in areas such as how to challenge a decision that has been made without adequate consultation. We are also seeing a younger generation
coming into local government who are lobbying leadership to make better use of technology, such as route planning software. Although technology may not fix the deep-seated issues, it gives transport planners more time, better visibility and cost savings – precious commodities that they can use to improve other areas of the system.
Could Covid be the turning point? These advantages speak for themselves and with huge digital advances being made in schools and local authorities in the face of Covid-19, could now be the opportunity to make the most of route optimisation? It’s also progress that can easily be made within the school year, it does not need to wait until the next budget. If you are the responsible contact for home-to-
school transport within a school or college, or perhaps work in the education department within a local authority, ask the planning department responsible for home-to-school transport in your area on how they are currently planning routes. A change in these processes could create cost efficiencies, but more importantly it could transform the life of a SEND student and their family, not just during this pandemic, but for the rest of their learning journey.
October 2020
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