Banbury mother says son has lost weeks of school due to ongoing transport problems

Gemma Williams says her son, who has additional needs, has already missed around three years of education since the family moved to Banbury in 2023.

She previously looked at places in mainstream schools around Banbury but decided a specialist setting would be more suitable for her 14-year-old son.

Gemma said: “He just needs to learn on a one-to-one basis because he can't cope with noise, other children, all the distractions of a normal class setting.

“He just can't handle it. He's very capable and in some subjects ahead of himself, but then in others, he's behind.”

After years of discussions with the council, Gemma secured a place for her son at Oxford International Study Centre, a specialist setting where he can learn on a one-to-one basis.

She said: “These are his GCSE years and really important for his life, so when we'd finally got a place, we were really pleased that he would have a chance to do his GCSEs with the right support.”

However, she says ongoing problems with school transport provided by Oxfordshire County Council have prevented him from starting properly, despite the new term beginning almost five weeks ago.

Her son attended the study centre in June for a trial period and summer sessions ahead of the new school year and settled in well.

The family had expected transport to be in place for his proper start in September.

However, Gemma says that when she received confirmation from the council's transport team in late August, the wrong school had been listed for her son.

She immediately contacted the council to correct the mistake, but says when the confirmation was sent again, it still had the incorrect school listed.

Gemma then contacted Ambassador Cars in Banbury, the taxi company selected by the council to provide her son's transport.

She says the taxi company told her it was ready to transport her son but had not received the necessary information from the council.

Gemma said: “He's now into week five of not being able to go to school because he has no transport to get there.”

The frustrated mother says she has contacted the council's transport team daily, made a formal complaint and travelled to County Hall in an attempt to get the issue resolved.

She claims she has repeatedly been told by different council departments that all they can do is send a message to the transport team.

Gemma says the situation is particularly difficult because her son is keen to attend the study centre in Oxford, but finds changes to his routine difficult and the problems with transport are fuelling his anxiety.

“He's absolutely willing to go to school,” she said. “But he struggles with routine changes, which is part of his autism. Once he's in a routine, that is the routine and he doesn't like changes to it.”

The lack of transport has meant Gemma has had to drive her son to Oxford when she can, but says she cannot do this every day because of work commitments.

She says the situation has also had a significant financial impact on the family because she has had to reduce the amount of work she can take on.

“I'm struggling to pay my bills,” she said. “I can't have him at home with me full time because my job is on the road.

“I also can't take him with me when I'm working, so I've had to really reduce the working hours I do. It's just an unbelievable situation.”

Gemma says she has now contacted local MP Sean Woodcock and submitted a formal complaint to the council. She is also considering taking the issue to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

She said: “It's not just about the transport, it's about the whole process from when we moved here and they took his education, health and education, and care plan (EHCP) over right through to now.

“They've got a legal duty to provide an education regardless and they didn't. And when they did, right at the end of that three-year stint, it was six hours of online classes, which just didn't work for my son and was of no benefit.”

For Gemma, the immediate priority is getting her son back into a consistent school routine as quickly as possible.

She said: “Every single time there's a new hurdle, and for my son, every setback is a massive demotivator.

“Our life feels like it is on hold at the moment, until we get this sorted. And I'm sure we're not the only family going through this.”

The family is now waiting for the council to resolve the transport arrangements so her son can attend school regularly.

Oxfordshire County Council said most students using home-to-school transport in the county had received their arrangements without issue and that it was working to resolve outstanding cases.

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “Whilst we can't comment publicly through the media on individual matters concerning young people and their education, we can provide an overview on school transport arrangements.

“Across Oxfordshire, the vast majority of the 8,000-plus home-to-school transport arrangements for families of eligible children, including SEND pupils – who submitted their travel information applications before the deadline – were in place in early September.

“Every effort is being made to progress the outstanding arrangements as quickly as possible.”