PLANS by Thurrock Council to implement cuts to grants helping children attend school were rejected by a scrutiny committee last night.

As reported on Thurrock Nub News, the council put three cost-saving initiatives in front of the council's children's services overview and scrutiny committee.

One was to save cash by charging parents or carers of some over 16 special needs children for transport to school.

The council also wants to be able to force children whose families have to go into temporary accommodation to leave their existing schools and move to one nearer where they live so the council doesn't have to pay for their transport.

And only offer free transport to families when there is no suitable school with a place available within the maximum walking distance from the child's home (two miles for pupils under the age of 8 and three miles for pupils over the age of 8).

Officer Temi Fawehinmi tried to persuade councillors that there was merit in the change and that part of the reasoning behind cutting the grant to older SEND children was to help them gain independence.

She said: "We are in a rock and hard place between children's needs and the ability to sustain costs."

But that did not wash with a majority of the committee and majority rejected them.

However, the final decision will be made by the council's cabinet.

The press were excluded from last night's meeting because of the council's social distancing policy. We would have liked to bring a more detailed report of the meeting, but the poor coverage, sound issues and lack of information made it very difficult to produce an effective report. Our apologies.