What to expect if your child receives SEND school transport

Information on Buckinghamshire Council's standards, identifying council-contracted staff and ensuring your child’s travel needs are shared with the operator.

We will keep your child safe by requiring all drivers and passenger assistants to undertake mandatory child protection, safeguarding and disability awareness training. All drivers and passenger assistants have an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

We will make sure that all operators who work on council contracts are checked to ensure they have:

• business continuity plans
• correct insurance
• relevant operating licences

We will monitor our contracts with operators to ensure that the service provided is safe, reliable and meets your child’s needs.

If you have any questions about the quality of the service you receive, we’ll investigate and respond to you as quickly as we can.

You can identify our contracted staff as:

• drivers who work for bus or coach operators will carry badges with yellow edging
• drivers and passenger assistants who work for taxi operators will carry badges with blue edging
• drivers and passenger assistants who work on wheelchair accessible vehicles must wear badges with red edging

You may ask to see the driver or passenger assistant’s Buckinghamshire Council ID badge at any time. If a driver or passenger assistant cannot produce their badge, do not let your child travel in the vehicle and let us know immediately on 01296 387 439.

We will ensure that your child’s travel needs are shared with the operator.

The transport operator will:

• make sure that their transport crews are fully aware of your child’s travel needs assessment
• arrange for you and your child to meet the transport crew before the transport starts.

The operator will be in touch with you to set this up. Where emergency transport provision has been arranged, this meeting may take place by telephone.