ESSEX County Council (ECC) has been urged to get on with providing special schools to help curb the “huge” £65million cost of transporting special education needs children over four years.

However the council says it is facing unprecedented increases in the number of children who qualify for SEN (special educational needs) transport – piling extra pressure on the council’s finances.

SEN transport is estimated to cost ECC £65million over four years.

At a cabinet meeting on October 22, Mike Mackrory, leader of ECC’s Lib Dem group, said: “I know the county is very keen to provide smaller units for SEN but that cost is huge and I do think it makes the point we must be getting on with providing these additional facilities because the cost of this transport is just huge.”

David Finch, leader of ECC, said: “It is one of those issues that Cllr Ray Gooding and his officers are very familiar with and indeed are working on that and that is in a sense work in progress.”

The number of children in receipt of education health and care plans (ECHPs) in Essex has increased in Essex between 2015 and 2018.

This increasing demographic is bringing increased budgetary challenges to the authority – leading to an increase from £14million in 2019/2020 to almost £19million in 2022/2023.

Nationally in the period 2015 to 2018 saw a 47 per cent increase, whereas in the period 2010 to 2014 the increase was only four per cent.

Cabinet member John Spence said: “There is a conundrum why the number of children who are receiving special education health care plans, thus qualifying for homes school transport, is increasing so rapidly both in this county and across the country.”

The rate of increase far exceeds anything that can be logically explained and this is one of the challenges we face.”