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Autistic son has been ‘let down’
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Author:  captain cab [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:23 am ]
Post subject:  Autistic son has been ‘let down’
Autistic son has been ‘let down’


An angry Chorley mother claims her autistic son is being ‘badly’ let down by disabled transport providers.

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Curvy Lynette Hatton, 33, has to rely on taxis provided by Lancashire County Council to ferry her seven-year-old son Thomas to and from school in Leyland.

However, she claims he is often left waiting on the doorstep for more than 40 minutes in a morning and on occasions the taxi has failed to turn up at all.

The mother-of-two has also claimed that one taxi firm broke the rules by sending an ‘un-plated’ vehicle for a fellow school pupil and now an investigation has been launched.

Hitting out at the state of the system, Lynette said: “Thomas has autism and so routine is really important to him.

“If the taxis are late and he is late for school, then it really upsets him and affects his whole day and his behaviour when he comes home.

“It isn’t something that is happening as a one-off either, it’s every week and at least once or twice.

“He is supposed to be picked up at 8.15 to 8.20am and is always ready and waiting, but it’s often going up for nine and there’s still no sign of his transport.

“He is stood out in the cold waiting and it’s really difficult as I have a daughter in reception at Withnell Fold Primary School so I can’t set off with her until Thomas is safely in the taxi.

“He has to go to a school in Leyland as he has special educational needs and it’s frustrating as I’d love nothing more than to be able to take him myself, but I can’t be in two places at once.”

Lynette also said that Thomas had been left behind at school because taxis have again failed to turn up on time.

She added: “It’s not just me in this position, other mums and dads are too and something needs to be done.

“One taxi firm sent an un-plated taxi which means that they don’t have insurance which is just ridiculous,” she added.

“The safety of our children has to be the priority and I hate having to rely on the free transport, but something has to be done as it’s just not fair and shouldn’t be allowed to happen.

“The transport is provided by Lancashire County Council, but when I contact the taxi firms to complain they just fob me off and tell me they are on their way yet we’re still left waiting 10-15 minutes later.”

Brian Derbyshire, the manager of the county council’s Integrated Transport Unit, said: “From time to time, we encounter problems with our transport arrangements for children with special educational needs.

“In these circumstances, we work closely both with the family and the taxi company to resolve the matter to everyone’s satisfaction.

“In terms of vehicles used to take children to and from school, we expect taxi firms to use ‘correctly plated’ taxis.

“If this doesn’t happen, we report the matter to the appropriate licensing authority.”

http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/news/ ... _1_4014836
Author:  Sussex [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
You pay peanuts for a service, then the monkeys do it.

I suspect those not offering the cheapest quote for the job would have provided a far better service.
Author:  gusmac [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
Sussex wrote:
You pay peanuts for a service, then the monkeys do it.

I suspect those not offering the cheapest quote for the job would have provided a far better service.


Can't argue with that.
Author:  edders23 [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
yep I've more or less stopped bidding for school contracts because my drivers won't go down to the price levels you need to bid to get one.

that having been said i once had a problem with a driver who turned up late on two occassions for a school contract and was stripped of that contract almost immediately when he was late a third time. Many councils take punctuality VERY seriously ! SO I would be surprised if the contractor hasn't been given a rollocking
Author:  skippy41 [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
Any operator who puts in for a contract with the council under this new procurement thing must by law pay any driver the min wage, I believe that is a condition in the small print, its definitely the case in the Borders
Author:  grandad [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
skippy41 wrote:
Any operator who puts in for a contract with the council under this new procurement thing must by law pay any driver the min wage, I believe that is a condition in the small print, its definitely the case in the Borders

I would love to see that Skippy, I have argued until I am blue in the face about this with Leicestershire County Council and particulaly with the use of escorts all to no avail.
Author:  thelodger [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
Sussex wrote:
You pay peanuts for a service, then the monkeys do it.

I suspect those not offering the cheapest quote for the job would have provided a far better service.



+1
Author:  skippy41 [ Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
grandad wrote:
skippy41 wrote:
Any operator who puts in for a contract with the council under this new procurement thing must by law pay any driver the min wage, I believe that is a condition in the small print, its definitely the case in the Borders

I would love to see that Skippy, I have argued until I am blue in the face about this with Leicestershire County Council and particulaly with the use of escorts all to no avail.


All operators here have to keep records of who did the runs and how much the driver was paid, 1 hours min wage must be paid to the driver if run is under an hour, the council has to pay the escort
Every so many months the council will ask an operator to bring in the records for inspection
The only exception to having to pay will be if the operator does the run or runs themselves
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
skippy41 wrote:

All operators here have to keep records of who did the runs and how much the driver was paid, 1 hours min wage must be paid to the driver if run is under an hour, the council has to pay the escort
Every so many months the council will ask an operator to bring in the records for inspection
The only exception to having to pay will be if the operator does the run or runs themselves


Shame they dont keep records of their insurance :lol:

CC
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
Quote:
Curvy Lynette Hatton, 33, has to rely on taxis provided by Lancashire County Council to ferry her seven-year-old son Thomas to and from school in Leyland.


funny first name!


and in my (recent) experience its ME who does the waiting, 40 minutes total at one address last week, today i left him....
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Mon Dec 05, 2011 4:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
BTW, whats the maximum waiting the transport dept expect you to do? ours is 2 mins....
Author:  grandad [ Mon Dec 05, 2011 4:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
On mainstream contracts there is no waiting time. On special educational needs it is up to 15 minutes. On behavioural and attendance contracts it is 5 minutes.
Author:  wannabeeahack [ Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
it obviously varies between counties, but 15 minutes each if you have 5 pickups could stretch the run out....
Author:  bloodnock [ Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
skippy41 wrote:
Any operator who puts in for a contract with the council under this new procurement thing must by law pay any driver the min wage, I believe that is a condition in the small print, its definitely the case in the Borders



Its as much the fault of those filling these low paid jobs...no ones forcing them to work for less than minimum wage rates, they can always say no and walk away.
Author:  bloodnock [ Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Autistic son has been ‘let down’
wannabeeahack wrote:
Quote:
Curvy Lynette Hatton, 33, has to rely on taxis provided by Lancashire County Council to ferry her seven-year-old son Thomas to and from school in Leyland.


funny first name!


and in my (recent) experience its ME who does the waiting, 40 minutes total at one address last week, today i left him....


Aye..its funny how the word Curvy wasnt used in the original newspaper article...who added Curvy???
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