Doncaster councillor's taxi firm to end SEND school services after claim parents 'train' kids to meet criteria
David Knight’s business, Ward Transportation Ltd, will no longer provide school services after his unevidenced claims about SEND children and their parents.
A city councillor will no longer provide school transport services for the City of Doncaster Council after he claimed children are “often trained to comply” with special education needs criteria by their parents in order for them to receive benefits.
Councillor David Knight also claimed that only a “small percentage” of children “genuinely” need special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, in a statement during an Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee meeting on March 26, 2026.
Cllr Knight’s register of interests reveals he is a director for Ward Transportation Ltd, a position he states is “unpaid”.
A Freedom of Information response from the council in August 2025, revealed Ward Transportation Ltd was one of 32 firms the council used to provide school transport services to take children with SEND from their homes, to school, and back again.
The Reform UK councillor’s statement, which went on for more than six minutes, was said to relate an overspend within the council’s adult and children’s social care departments
He said: “Benefits have caused the explosion of SEN claims… benefits includes a child being placed in a satellite school, with one-to-one tuition, transport provided complete with passenger assistance and the parent being awarded financial packages to assist.
“To achieve SEN status for the child, criteria have to be met. Once a parent knows the criteria, a child is often trained to comply.”
Cllr Knight also claimed, without evidence, that schools, under pressure to get good results, “often” intentionally exclude children who they do not believe will get the grades, putting them into the SEND system.
“There is and always will be a small percentage of children in need of SEN genuinely,” he added.
The comments left officials and councillors stunned, with one councillor, who watched the meeting back on YouTube, contacting the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) and described it as “utter madness”.
Cllr Knight opened his statement by attempting to inform the room, which included the executive director of children, young people and families, Riana Nelson, and the director of public health, Rachael Leslie, on what is included within SEND.
He said there was a “poor waste” of council money being spent on school transport for children within the SEND system and asked for it to be reviewed.
Responding to Cllr Knight during the meeting, Ms Nelson said there had been “a few generalised statements” in his lengthy speech, adding they would discuss what he’d said further outside of the meeting.
The LDRS separately approached Cllr Knight and Reform UK for comment.
Cllr Knight did not respond directly himself, however, a spokesperson for the Reform UK group said the remarks represented his “personal experiences and perceptions developed over many years of working closely with families, children, and professionals through his involvement with the Doncaster Council taxi contract”.
“The views expressed by Cllr Knight were his own...”
The Reform UK group spokesperson added: “His intention was to contribute to a broader discussion about the significant pressures facing SEND provision and social care services.
“The Reform group supports open and honest dialogue about the growing demands on SEND and social care services, and believes that contributions from elected members with direct, long-term experience should form part of that conversation. At the same time, we acknowledge the importance of ensuring such discussions are handled with care and supported by evidence.
“The views expressed by Cllr Knight were his own, but they were made in the context of raising concerns about system pressures, not to cause offence. We remain committed to respectful, balanced, and constructive engagement on these important topics.”
They said that Cllr Knight has chosen to give up the contracted taxi services his company provided to the council “following this matter”.
Cllr Knight previously had the whip removed by former group leader, Cllr Guy Aston, in September 2025, after he set up ‘Fly Doncaster (Auxiliary Services) Ltd’.
The business, which is still registered with Companies House, is similarly named to ‘Fly Doncaster Ltd’ the arms-length company set up by Doncaster Council to run Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
It caused controversy as Cllr Knight was, at the time, a listed member of the OSMC, which was due to review airport reopening plans.
After Cllr Aston stepped down as group leader in November 2025, Cllr Knight had the party whip restored and he claimed his suspension was “without foundation”.