A CHILD with special educational needs was left ‘blue’ following an epileptic fit and others have been left unattended at the side of the road by the council’s contracted transport provider.

These are some of the major safeguarding failures raised in a council motion to resolve issues which have plagued Vecteo’s takeover of SEN transport provision.

Twenty-three councillors have signed the motion, to be debated on Thursday, Octoner 21, which also calls for an investigation into the awarding of the contract to Vecteo – previously held by 24x7.

“Vecteo then left children and vulnerable adults on the side of the road, parents waiting hours for collection, children with severe safeguarding concerns left unattended or without adequate chaperones - one child had an epileptic fit and was reported “blue” on arrival,” the motion states.

“Vecteo failed to provide adequate staff, meaning disabled children had to get taxis to school. Parents reported taxi drivers leaving children at the side of the road, no handover. They could have wandered off, been abducted, run over.”

The motion continues to detail instances where children had been taken to the wrong home on return to school or where parents had been left waiting hours for collection.

Adrian Dickinson, 50, whose autistic son goes to The St Christopher’s school, says, a month after parents first raised complaints, the service is still not up to standard.

“They have been arriving late, which isn’t too bad for me because I work from home but others aren’t so lucky,” he said.

“My ex-partner has had to take my little boy to one of the assistant’s houses while waiting for the bus to turn up because they can’t get there on time.”

Simi Wilson, who also has an autistic son at The St Christopher’s, said her experience of the service had slightly improved in recent weeks.

She said: “Objectively, things have improved. Is it a passable service now? Yes. Is it as good as the provision before? No.”

Ms Wilson had been left until the last day before the start of the school term before being contacted by her child’s passenger assistant via text – standard practice would have involved a meet and great well in advance to allow her child to meet their chaperone and to inform the assistant of any medical or behavioural needs.

Richard Gerard Sharp, Vecteo Transport Manager said: “We did experience a number of delivery problems during the change of contractors in early September, which led to problems we admit were unacceptable. There are still some issues that Vecteo are working tirelessly to rectify and to the parents and carers of those affected by these failures, we humbly apologise.

"There is still work to be done and improvements to be made. Vecteo have already introduced new vehicles that provide an improved environmental footprint. An enhanced training program is being introduced to raise standards further, and we are working with the schools in identifying bespoke training needs for our staff transporting children with complex needs. 

"We are unaware of any current lateness issues, but we would be happy to look into any instances that we are made aware of by parents or schools".