A CONTROVERSIAL school transport service has been given an extra £1.4 million after making improvements following a disastrous start to its deal with Southend Council.

Vecteo was formed as a joint venture set up by London Hire Community Services and Southend Council in 2021.

The firm came under fire following a series of incidents which saw too few vehicles and staff, autistic children being left unattended by the side of the road, and a pupil almost falling out the door of a moving bus.

In August after a new manager was brought in, the firm announced a concerted effort to improve meant it was finally meeting almost all of its performance targets.

Budget papers, published last week, said: “Due to the impact and delays caused initially by Covid-19 to the original business plan for this Joint Venture, together with the financial and operational performance issues that have been previously reported, this £1.4 million investment is required to reset the financial parameters and reflect the new operating environment.

“Major improvements in service quality and financial grip have been delivered over the last six months and these need to continue in the face of significant inflationary cost pressures for this service.”

Steven Wakefield, councillor responsible for highways, transport and parking, added: “Following major improvements to service quality of the home to school transport service and bearing in mind the current cost pressures on all services, we have to invest money into Vecteo, to reset the finances and allow those improvements to remain and continue to develop.”

The council is also set to give an extra £800,000 to extend its waste contract with Veolia.

Tony Cox, leader of the Conservative Group, condemned both outlays.

He said: “What we are seeing now is the cumulation of incompetence and financial mismanagement, and Southend residents are going to suffer.

“We are told that this budget is due to Government cuts but the Government grant received this year is £7.1 million - up from £6.6 million last year.

“Two ‘investments’ in this budget £800,000 for waste collection and £1.4 million for the Vecteo contract are not investments at all.”