Special needs children were taxied to school by drivers who have not been thoroughly checked for criminal records, according to a shocking report presented to Richmond Council.

The report, to Richmond's audit committee, found it was not possible to provide assurances to parents that adequate criminal record checks had been undertaken on all staff.

Furthermore, the contracts between the taxi firms shipping children around the borough and Richmond Council have been lost, effectively handing the operators a blank cheque to charge what they wish.

The report found that criminal record checks (CRB), as well as disclosure and barring checks (DBS) information was "unreliable" due to "continuous overwriting" and were no longer "a full and complete record of all routes and passenger assistants provided".

It also "identified a number of cases where DBS checks and insurance certificates were no longer valid". This issue had been highlighted at a previous audit but had not been fully addressed.

It continued: "Without a full list of staff employed by the service via external providers, it is not possible to provide assurances that adequate checks have been undertaken on all staff.

"This is a significant issue."

The report adds that failure to ensure that all checks are up to date and insurance cover in place could put childrens' welfare at risk and places the service and authority at "significant reputational and financial risk".

In regards to the lost contracts the report read: "The contracts with providers had not been located.

"Copies of the contracts were not held locally by the Special Educational Needs Transport Team" and instead relied on custom and practice rather than specific contractual terms and conditions.

The report continued: "No checks were undertaken to ensure that providers were meeting their contractual obligations, or to rectify contractual non compliance."

Councillor Jonathan Cardy, who chaired the committee, said it was vital checks were carried out to ensure adults tasked with escorting vulnerable children were upstanding members of the community.

He said: "Without having those checks done and having that recorded in the system we cannot be completely sure about the safety of these children."

Councillor Paul Hodgins, Richmond's cabinet member for children's services, conceded there were "unnacceptable" gaps in record keeping and contract monitoring and said it was partly due to a split in accountability between children’s and adult services.

When asked how many children may have travelled with an escort who had not been checked, Coun Hodgins said he did not have the number off the top of his head and could not guarantee whether he would be able to find out, due to the organisation's issues with record-keeping.

Coun Hodgins said: "With the creation of Achieving for Children and our partnership with Kingston, we have now been able to bring the service provision into AfC.

"We have made significant changes already. We have brought new rigour to the service. We have an excellent officer leading it, and I am confident these checks, the record keeping, and the budget control are now being done thoroughly.

"SEN transport is an incredibly important service, and we are now finishing public consultation on its future. We expect to publish a draft new policy in December."

Has your child used this service? Call the news room on 0208 722 6326 or email george.odling@london.newsquest.co.uk.