Birmingham dad's anger as council 'refuses' son's transport for school 'over 10 miles away'

Paul McAnenny, from Sheldon, said driving his child to and from his specialist pre-school was putting a 'massive strain' on his family's finances

A Birmingham dad is challenging the council over its decision not to provide free school transport for his disabled son. Dad Paul McAnenny, from Sheldon, currently faces 'over an hour' round-trip to drop his son Tommy, 3, off at a specialist pre-school in Northfield.

Tommy is profoundly deaf after being born with CHARGE Syndrome - a rare genetic condition that affects multiple organ systems. An EHCP plan put in place by Birmingham City Council has identified Longwill School for Deaf Children as the school which 'best meets Tommy's needs' - but dad Paul was shocked to learn transport would not be provided for Tommy, despite the school being 'over 10 miles away.'

Paul is currently spending an extra '£160-a-month' in fuel to drive Tommy to school every day, whilst also dropping off his two daughters at their local school. He is currently appealing the council's decision not to provide transport for his son saying, 'we just want him to have the same chances as everyone else.'

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Tommy, aged three, was born with CHARGE Syndrome, an extremely complex syndrome involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. Due to his disability, Tommy's vocal development is 'severely lacking for a child of his age.'

"He's profoundly deaf because of his condition," dad Paul McAneny told BirminghamLive. "He can only say two words clearly which is an issue at his age, and that's 'mama' and 'dada.'"

An ECHP plan has identified Longwill School for Deaf Children in Northfield as the school which would best suit Tommy's needs, enabling to learn British Sign Language alongside English. But Paul said the council's decision not to provide free transport had put a 'massive strain' on his family's finances.

"Going to deaf school where he can learn British Sign Language will be so beneficial to Tommy," Paul added. "The council has stated that Longwill is the school that best meets his needs, but unfortunately that's a 10-mile commute for us.

"We were led to believe that transport would be included in the EHCP given the distance, but our application was rejected. With what I currently earn as Tommy's full-time carer, it's not sustainable for me to keep making that journey.

"It's costing me an extra £80-160 every month to keep taking him to school - and he's got two sisters who need dropping off at the same time. When you factor in other expenses, that's a lot of money.

"We want the council to reverse its decision, Tommy deserves to have the same chances to succeed in life as everyone else."

To help cover the costs, Paul has launched a GoFundMe page to support Tommy's education. He is currently in a stage two appeal against the council's decision not to provide transport.

It comes amid heightened fears of cuts to SEND transport services from parents, as the city council looks to make millions of pounds in savings after effectively declaring itself bankrupt a year ago. Earlier this year, families of vulnerable teenagers said they had been left in a state of limbo as the council took the axe to its special needs transport service .

When approached, a spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: "Pre-school transport is something that local authorities have no compulsory duty to provide and is typically a reduced offer when compared to 5-15 Compulsory School aged Transport; it is at the discretion of individual councils and would usually be in the form of Personal Transport Budgets, as it is better that a parent can be supported to accompany a child of such a young age where possible."