AQW 26226/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 28/04/2025
Answered On Date: 12/05/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) when the school transport exceptional circumstances appeals process was first established by the Education Authority; (ii) the number of appeals received since its inception; and (iii) the number of appeals that were in respect of pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Answer:

Appeals on the grounds of exceptional circumstances in respect of school transport assistance are provided for in Section 8 of the Department of Education Circular 1996/41 (updated 2009). Such appeals were administered by legacy board structures until 2017/18 when the current transport appeals process was established as a result of the Education Authority ( EA) Transport Service being regionalised.

The EA has provided the information below in relation to the number of transport appeals received on the basis of exceptional circumstances. Records are only available from 2017/18 when the EA transport service was regionalised.

Academic Year	Number of exceptional circumstances appeals received
2017/18	185
2018/19	111
2019/20	196
2020/21	235
2021/22	324
2022/23	400
2023/24	391
2024/25	441

The EA has advised that it does not formally record whether or not a pupil has a statement of Special Educational Needs when an appeal is received.