Redbridge Council is considering “driving down costs” of transporting children with special needs by having private companies compete for different school bus routes.

At a people scrutiny committee meeting on October 19, a council officer said the service for children was “run in house” but there were “questions as to the viability and value for money”.

The council decided during the 2017 financial year to cut more than £1 million from the cost of providing transport to its disabled residents, both children and adults.

Now the council is considering creating an “open market” for the more than 100 routes it offers, with each route going to the company that offers the most competitive price.

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A presentation prepared for the committee argues a new “competitive transport system” will “drive down costs, as well as ensuring optimal routing and wait times for children is reduced”.

It adds: “Further work will need to be done to fully understand the financial benefits and contractual management arrangement before any option is proposed.”

Cllr Khaled Noor (Lab, Barkingside) advised some degree of caution in the overhaul, telling the committee: “We should not compromise the service our community needs and expects.”

The presentation notes that a similar system could also be implemented for adult transport services.

Transport for the council is currently managed by the Redbridge Passenger Transport Service, which was formed in 1988 and operates out of the Ley Street Depot in Ilford.

The service operates 266 routes a day and transports more than 25,000 passengers a week.

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