By law, the council is obliged to offer free home-to-school transport for some disabled pupils
The council said there was a combination of reasons why these pupils might attend school outside of Leeds, including location, parental choice or specialist provision being available elsewhere.A spokesperson for the authority said: “We are committed to placing children in schools within the city wherever possible, however sometimes to best meet a child’s needs they need to be placed outside of the local authority area.
“In Leeds, fewer resident pupils attend state-funded schools outside of the local authority area than nationally. “The reason a school may be chosen outside the Leeds area is due to a number of factors specific to the individual. “This could include the need for a highly specialist place that meets an individual’s needs, parental preferences or a school in a different authority being closer to a child’s home when they live on the border of Leeds.”Overall, the council spent almost £13m on taxi journeys for vulnerable pupils over the course of the year.
More than £2.7m of the overall bill went towards paying passenger attendants to accompany the children on the journeys.