CHARGES are set to be introduced for the home to school travel of some pupils with special needs or disabilities following a decision that one councillor described as being “horrendous” to make.

St Helens Council cabinet approved a recommendation for the introduction of charges for children below the age of five or older than 16.

A council report says it has no duty to provide free travel assistance for those age groups and adds changes will be introduced in September 2018, with protection for existing students.

There will be a charge reduction for families on “low income”.

It says the decision is due to “significant pressures” on the school transport budget emerging as a result of “substantial reduction in government funding” with the ‘Extended Rights to Free Travel Grant’ decreased from £173,000 in 2012/13 to £20,000 in 2017/18. Students requiring assistance increased from from 447 in 2012/13 to 508 by 2015/16.

Other changes mean if a child attends a school further away than the nearest, the authority will make clear it has no duty to assist.

Independent travel training and a free bus pass will be available and a parental mileage or a direct payment to cover cost of home to school travel will be offered ahead of door to door transport.

Cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, Cllr Gill Neal said: “This has been an absolutely horrendous decision to have to make.

“However, we do have a statutory duty and so do parents.

“Although it’s heartbreaking having a child with a disability, and I have two so I’m quite qualified to comment upon it, it has always been my responsibility to transport them to school and had I chosen a school 10 or 20 miles away I would only be too happy to.”