PROPOSALS to slim down the number of escorts for pupils with special educational needs are being considered as part of a £3.5million spending purge by Lancashire County Council.

County Hall finance chiefs say there has been a steady growth in the number of adults hired to accompany special needs students from their homes to school and back.

And if an “efficiency review” of the service was successful then savings of up to £150,000 could be made, Lancashire County Council’s children’s and young person’s overview and scrutiny committee has been told.

Senior county councillors say the review will not lead to job losses but some routes, which may duplicate existing provisions, could be “consolidated”.

County councillor Jennifer Mein, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Mainly this will consolidate routes. This has not been reviewed for a little while.

“We are expecting that when the review is complete that there will less routes.

"As far as I know there will not be fewer escorts but the review has not even got underway yet.”

Wendy Broadley, a chief executive’s department spokesman says in a report: “The provision of home to school transport for children with special educational needs has grown significantly over recent years particularly with the use of passenger assistants (escorts).

“The proposal would be to review the routes and provision of escorts to release savings through better route planning and revised risk assessments about the need for the provision of escorts.

“The proposals would be to improve the efficiency of the delivery of current policy through better route planning and service efficiencies.”

Another major review will examine the role of family centres in Lancashire, with the arrival of government-funded children’s centres across the county.

An estimated £350,000 could be saved, over the next two years, by "rationalising" centres where a family centre is located near to an existing children’s base.

The two proposals have been drafted by the county council’s cabinet and follow a £2.56million savings package, focusing on school grants, child protection services and pupil transport.

County officials are also keen to review the number of out-of-Lancashire placements provided for Year 10 and 11 students, in residential special schools.