FOR a campaign which launched three months ago, Disability Empowerment Action Links Leeds (DEAL Leeds) has made remarkable progress.

It was established in February by parents of disabled children and those with special educational needs, to oppose cuts to transport provided by Leeds City Council to take the children to schools and specialist care centres.

Since launching in February the DEAL parents have appeared on regional TV news programmes Calendar and Look North, teamed up with union Unite’s Unite Community to stage a successful demonstration, launched a petition and lobbied councillors. They’ve leafleted, picketed, won the support of two Leeds MPs and taken part in Leeds trade union council’s May Day march and rally.

On Thursday they were out in Briggate in Leeds, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, handing out leaflets and gathering signatures on a petition to the council.

Yesterday they were meeting councillors in the hope of persuading them to drop the transport cuts. If they don’t succeed, they plan to step up their campaign.

All in all, it’s not bad for a campaign which started around 12 weeks ago.

One of the parents is Julie, who doesn’t want her surname used because she works for Leeds City Council.

She has a daughter who is 16 and has cerebral palsy, cannot walk or speak, has epilepsy and also presents challenging behaviour.

The council’s plan was to cut transport provision for disabled youngsters once they reach the age of 16, and also for the under-fives.

“They weren’t going to cut it to people already over 16, but for people as they reach 16, so it would eventually disappear,” said Julie.

“They also said that in severe cases it could be kept on for over-16s, but they said my daughter wasn’t severe enough.”

DEAL says many parents and carers will have to give up work or reduce their working hours because they will have to take their children to school.

“Some people I know will have to catch two buses to take their children to school right across the city,” said Julie. “How are they going to be able to work?”

Some individual parents have hired lawyers and taken their individual cases to appeal, but DEAL is very much a collective campaign.

“We are gaining more and more support,” said Julie. “We’ve had massive support from Unite Community branch. They have been brilliant, with leaflets, helping us get a banner.”

Gerry Lavery is secretary of the Leeds and Wakefield branch of Unite Community.

“Julie is a neighbour of mine,” he said. “She knew I was involved in Unite Community.

“There had been other cuts in services for disabled and educational needs children. There’d been a proposal to cut education from five days a week to three. The ones proposed on transport were a cut too far.

“We took it from there. They came to a Unite Community branch meeting and passed a motion in support. We’ve put resources into leaflets. Since then TV have done spots with some of the parents.

“It’s gathering momentum. We’ll be sticking with them.”