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Protesters gathered outside Coventry Council House ahead of a meeting to discuss cuts to free travel to and from school for disabled children.

About 50 disability campaigners, socialist students from Coventry University, trade union reps and members of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition were protesting against the proposals to cut £420,000 from the budget for getting disabled children to and from school.

The cash is spent on taxis, buses and bus passes for children aged two to 18 with a range of disabilities including learning difficulties and autism.

Some go to special schools further from their homes than their catchment mainstream school.

The protesters also raised concerns about proposed £65million cuts to other council services including asking schools to pay for lollipop men and women, closing libraries and scaling down the Godiva Festival.

Jane Nellist, joint divisional secretary of the National Union of Teachers in Coventry said: “We are opposed to these cuts. Some children will not be able to get to school.”





Coventry-based disability campaigner and mum-of-two Eleanor Lisney, 54, representing national group Disabled People Against Cuts said: “Children won’t be able to get to school and then they won’t be literate. That’s what worries me.”

Parents who don’t send their children to school face possible fines or court appearances.

Statistics show families with a disabled child are more likely to be on low incomes.

The protest took place just before a meeting of Coventry City Council’s education and children’s scrutiny board where the proposals were discussed.

Pre-school aged children would lose their free transport altogether, while only the most severely disabled aged over 16 would qualify.

Children who don’t get free transport because of the distance to their school would be assessed to see if they could get to school independently.

At the meeting education boss Coun David Kershaw said: “This concerns some of most vulnerable young people in the city.”

Formal consultation is now being carried out.