Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Con)

My Lords, in moving Amendment 14, I will also speak to Amendment 27 in my name. I thank my noble friends Lady Neville-Rolfe and Lady Barran for their support. These amendments would prevent commencement of this Act until an assessment of the impact of the policy on persons who provide transport for children with special educational needs is published. Those who provide transport for people with special educational needs provide a service that is very often not understood by those who are not in that position and do not have children who have a real problem getting to school. These companies that provide daily transport to children are now facing a rise in their employment costs. It is typical for drivers and their assistants to work for three and half hours a day, which brings them into this new threshold where the increased rate of employer national insurance will apply. The sum of £515 million previously mentioned as being put aside for councils is to offset the national insurance contributions for their own employees. This sum would not offset the indirect costs of council services delivered by private providers. Councils have a statutory duty to provide these services. If private transport is no longer financially viable because of the new rules, the councils will have to re-tender thousands of contracts. I know at first hand, from my own experience of running a charity, how long it takes even to get a normal DBS check. We will be in a situation where some children will not be able to get to school until all these checks and balances have been done and the forms have been filled in. This transport is an absolute lifeline—I know that is a hackneyed phrase—to parents. It enables them to continue working, as they do not have to drive the frequently very long distances that some of these children have to be taken to get to the nearest school that can accommodate their needs. Some parents who live near us in East Sussex told me of the enormous difference that it has made to them as a family. Before they had access to this transport, both parents worked, but one had to stop working in order to drive the child backwards and forwards to school. However, then they got access to the transport, and the father said to me that, for the first time, he did not have to worry about his child. He could go back to work and could become the person he was before he had a disabled child. That portion of his day spent in the office was absolutely invaluable to him. My own daughter had somebody who drove her to school every day: Terry Heseltine. I spoke to him today because what I had not realised is that 90% of his work is spent driving children with acute and complex needs to school, along with an assistant. He said to me, “For many, this is the only way that they can get to school. Most of these parents do not have cars”. These children, who are often violent and display unruly behaviour, would have no other way of getting to school. We cannot let down this group of vulnerable people and their exhausted parents. These amendments are important because the increased cost of this policy on those who provide transport for children with special educational needs could result in job losses, reduced services and an unimaginable nightmare for these children and their families. I beg to move.