Councillors have pledged to review the success of a controversial policy to introduce a £400 charge on travel  for older disabled students in Bexley.

A special scrutiny meeting was held on Tuesday night (August 28) to discuss the council’s plan to introduce a eight per cent levy towards the cost of travel assistance for post-16s with special educational needs or disabilities – a service that is currently free.

Bexley taxpayers currently cover the costs, which are on average £4,861 a year.

It comes as the council faces an overspend of £655k for the travel assistance budget – leading to it proposing a contribution from September 2019.

The decision was ticked off at a cabinet meeting in June, and at a scrutiny meeting councillors agreed to review the success rate of the policy after a few months.

Councillor Caroline Newton said: “Can we make sure that in seven to eight months time we look at the 2020/2021 policy? And, secondly, we also need to review the success of this policy and its guidance. That might need to be in a year’s time.”

Council bosses were also pressed about whether the charge would be upped in future years, but said it was expected it would remain the same as long as other measures are employed to maintain the “challenging budget”.

Concerns from Bexley Voice, a voluntary group of parents and carers of children with special needs and disabilities, were raised about families with low incomes.

Cllr Richard Diment said schools and colleges might not be well versed to provide information on bursaries that could help.

Cathy Roberts, interim deputy director for education, added: “It’s been a learning experience for us about the lack of understanding.

“We would want to share information with families and parents and be able to support with applications. There’s some work for us to do there with school teams.

“What I would point out is that the option is for a flat £400 charge, and there would also be exceptional circumstances criteria.”

Plans were made to ensure schools, colleges and families were aware of bursary opportunities for young people which could help with the costs.

The council is not required to provide free travel arrangements for young people, and bosses said a flat £400 charge was fair to cover parts of the cost.

The cash will go towards transport assistance to schools and colleges, which can mean the use of  ‘pick-up points’, a personal travel assistance budget paid to parents and carers, independent travel training, or council-run transport vehicles.

Neighbouring boroughs including Kent and Essex already charge £400 and £900 for similar services.

Labour took aim at the policy earlier this year, with leader Labour Daniel Francis saying that it was “mind-boggling” the charge would mean that an able-bodied teenager could travel for free because of TfL policies, but disabled teenagers in Bexley would be faced with a £400 levy.

The charge will be phased in from September next year.