THE amount of money spent by Devon County Council (DCC) on taxis for students has risen year on year since 2022, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

In the 2024/25 financial year, DCC spent £27,473,641.71 on taxis for getting pupils to and from school, the FOI shows.

This was up from the previous financial year when the figure stood at £25,791,181.55.

And in the 2022/23 financial year the price tag was £24,216,798.54.

The spending on taxis has risen by at least £1million each year since 2022.

The spend on taxi contracts per school varies due to a number of factors, such as the number of children and their transport requirements, distances travelled and level of competition for contracts.

This year, DCC’s most expensive network averaged out to around £10,627.52 per head for 196 passengers, whereas one of its smaller, lower costing networks averaged £10,775.65 per head for 51 passengers.