Norfolk County Council bosses admit school transport blunder

Norfolk County Council has started advising families on applying for school places for next September - with parents needing to submit their applications by February.

But a letter sent out to this effect has been labelled "misleading" after parents were given false information about transport arrangements.

The letter stated parents of children with education, health and care plans would need to cover the transport costs if they selected a school outside of their catchment area.

It also said they would be expected to cover fees if they applied for an independent setting.

However, the council has since admitted this information was incorrect and is being urged to apologise for the blunder.

Maxine Webb, Labour's lead for SEND, said: "There is enough to consider as it is when your child is going up to a new school, but this will have caused additional stress to families who already have a lot on their plates as it is.

"The letter was incorrect and misleading and may have put people off choosing schools that would better suit their needs because it is not their immediate local school.

"People need to have this clarified but also deserve an apology."

Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for children's services at the Conservative-led council, said: "We have recently learned that correspondence to families whose children with EHCP are transitioning to a new phase of education in 2024 contained an error.

"We would like to thank our local parent carer forums for bringing this to our attention and the letters have now been changed accordingly for future years.

"We are in process of writing to all families who have received the correspondence this year to provide clarification ... and to allow any concerns for a minority of cases to which those arrangements apply."