'Children with disabilities are being stranded': Protesters demand action over school transport funding
A petition with 11,000 signatures was handed in to the council
Birmingham City Council has committed to look into the "short-fall" in funding which means school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities is only funded up to sixteen.
Parents turned out in Victoria Square in Birmingham to demand change - as children are being left unable to get to school and placements.
Angela's son hasn't been able to go back to school for the summer term.
"He's extremely, extremely anxious," she says. "He's locked in his bedroom, and he's lonely ... it's lonely anyway, being a child with additional needs, they don't get invited out ... the only friends he's got are ones he accesses within his school."
For Mary Ann, it's a tense waiting game. Her grandson is turning sixteen next year, and won't be able to get to school if his assisted transport isn't funded.
"He doesn't leave the house other than to go to school ... he's confined in the house as it is, if he loses the education side of it, that's him in the house 24/7," she says.
Teacher Kate Taylor, from SEND National Crisis Birmingham, helped organise the event - which culminated in a petition with 11,000 signatures being handed in to the council.
"What we have is children who should be at school, who are currently sitting at home, because they can't get to their place of education," she says.
The council says funding is available in some instances, and they've committed to reviewing the situation