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Lord Rix: My Lords, I begin by declaring a personal interest. Having a new grandson with Down's syndrome--with whom I have just spent a very happy day, noting his excellent progress--I am conscious of being close to someone who might well be directly affected by the code of practice, perhaps in the special "under two" category, and certainly a little later on. Perhaps I should also declare an interest as one of those who, during your Lordships' debates on the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill, pressed for assurance to be made doubly sure in areas of doubt--if not in the Bill itself, then in the guidance issued with it. The government response during debates on the Bill was frequently in terms of what should be incorporated in two codes of practice, the regulations, one or more circulars, and what I must now learn to call the "toolkit". Those who have tried to navigate and drive while referring to several different maps will share my concern that there might be more confusion than direction.
Given the often heated debate about educational theories and the politics of education, I ask one thing above all others of the code and the rest of the guidelines--in addition to coherence. The absolutely basic issue is a relevant and appropriate education for each and every child. I have concerns about what I shall term the "cop-out" clause--the one modifying the rights of disabled children by reference to the efficient education of other children. Safeguards are needed, but I need assurance that the use of this clause will be closely monitored to stop it being used to excuse poor management of inadequate resources.
With these caveats, I welcome the code, and hope that it will be read and acted upon, and not merely added to the groaning staff-room shelf of volumes telling schools how to teach. In particular, I welcome the acceptance that the way in which educational provision is described should always be specific, and that it should normally be quantified. I am glad that the Government have been able to respond favourably to the concerns expressed by your Lordships and others. I still have three or four questions that I want to raise, in the hope of a reassuring reply.
The first concerns the thorny issue of flexibility--which has already been touched on by the noble Baroness, Lady Blatch--and, most importantly, who benefits from it. What worries parents is the flexibility that some schools have shown in using funding intended for pupils with special educational needs for quite other purposes. It would be very reassuring to hear that schools are to be accountable for the significant moneys that are given to them to meet the special educational needs of their pupils.
I note that we have some small changes to consider in the way that the code deals with children with health needs. That has already been referred to. I have spoken before about Mencap's report Don't Count Me Out, which tells the sad tales of youngsters excluded from aspects of school life because of their additional health needs. As ever more severely disabled children survive their early months and years and have a future, we need to make sure that our schools are geared up for them.
I am not sure that we have got things quite right in the code. If, for example, a child needs medication during the school day, parents need to feel confident that school staff will be able and willing to give it. I should like to be assured that schools know and accept their responsibility for getting that right. Some schools have clearly been struggling with those issues. With medical needs, as with sensory support, lack of awareness of needs and lack of an appropriate response can mean exclusion from appropriate education.
Finally, whether we like it or not, we live in a doctrinaire age, with a number of the interested parties determined on change for change's sake. I should welcome a reassurance that the code is thought likely to stand up to, for example, the strain of local or national policies of increasing numbers of specialist
schools. I know that we seem to have an education Bill a year, but I cannot believe that legislation is necessarily the right way. A continuing dialogue between the Government and the Special Educational Consortium might deliver what is required by way of a regular review.I notice the hint of a further code revision, which may well be necessary. However, if there is one thing even more likely than too much guidance to persuade people to ignore it, it is the likelihood of frequent changes in guidance. On the other hand, if we have good guidance that is accessible to those affected by it, there is a better chance of it being implemented.
I hope that the Minister will be able to give me at least some of the assurances that I am seeking. We have in our hands the futures of many children with special educational needs--children we value for who they are and for what they could be.
Lord Renton: My Lords, I apologise to the Minister and to your Lordships for being late to this debate. Like the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, I have been to the funeral of a dear friend and former Member of this House.
I have a severely handicapped daughter. Like the noble Lord, Lord Rix, I have been closely involved with Mencap for many years. We have each been its national chairman.
I draw your Lordships' attention to a short but vital quotation on page 65 of the report. Chapter 7, paragraph 9, under the heading "Request by the child's school or setting", states:
- "In some cases, schools or settings will conclude, after they have taken action to meet the learning difficulties of a child, that the child's needs remain so substantial that they cannot be met effectively within the resources normally available to the school or setting".
I ask the Minister to bear that in mind. Many children have such serious learning difficulties that they need special education at a school that can help them better than those that provide normal education. I know that Mencap and many others consider it unfortunate to have to send children away from normal schools and to special schools, but it has to be done. I press the Government on the issue.
There are three important factors to bear in mind. The first is that most young people with special educational needs learn more at special schools than they can be taught at normal schools. Secondly, such unfortunate children are often teased and occasionally bullied at normal schools. Thirdly, the burden on teachers at normal schools has often been increased by their having to teach pupils with learning difficulties. I ask the Government to bear those important factors in mind.
8.15 p.m.
Baroness Darcy de Knayth: My Lords, it is a pleasure to welcome the draft code of practice. It is a much bonnier baby than when it first lay on the Table in July. That previous draft contained many welcome changes, as the Minister has said, including the simplification of
the school-based stages, clearer guidance on speech therapy provision, duties to meet transport costs of children in distant residential schools, and a greater emphasis on the importance of seeking the views of children and young people.I am particularly grateful to the Minister and the Secretary of State for having the guts and good sense to withdraw the code in order to get it absolutely right. I thank the Minister for being so willing to meet, discuss and listen, and I also thank her officials for all their help.
The revised draft is improved. As the Minister said, it makes clear an LEA's duty to consider the formal assessment of children whose medical needs constitute a barrier to accessing educational provision. Many of the organisations had been concerned about that, including IPSEA--of which I am a member--Mencap and the RNIB. The noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, has already flagged up that tomorrow, 30th October, is Eye Test Action Day. I also support what she and the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, have said. I was horrified to see recent research that shows that one in five schoolchildren may have undetected poor sight.
I also welcome the clarification in the new code that school governors cannot lawfully refuse a place to a child when their school is named in a child's statement, but can only argue against it.
The most important change is the inclusion in the code of guidance on the need, in the majority of statements, for special educational provision to be quantified. If not, there is no guarantee that a child will receive the help to which he or she is legally entitled. That is reinforced by the additional guidance that LEAs must not operate blanket policies of refusing to quantify provision and must not try to prevent professionals recording an opinion on the amount of help that a child needs in their assessment reports. The reinstatement of guidance on quantification and the additions that strengthen it are most welcome.
However, for the guidance to result in improvements for children, two things must happen. First, the LEAs must refrain from using the argument that a child's need for flexible provision justifies a vague statement. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, and David Wolfe, whom she quotes, I see no reason why flexible arrangements cannot be conveyed in a quantified way that retains the protective functions of the statement. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure the noble Baronesses, Lady Blatch and Lady Sharp, and the rest of us that the overwhelming majority of cases will be quantified and that the absence of quantification will be appropriate only in exceptional cases. That is what all the disability organisations wanted. Furthermore, it would be helpful if the Minister could stress the Government's expectation that in these exceptional cases, LEAs will base their decision on professional evidence with regard to the individual child's need for flexibility.
Secondly, while the advice against blanket policies to produce vague statements is welcome, such policies are, of course, illegal. Unfortunately, in the past the Secretary of State has been slow to respond to formal
complaints made against LEAs which are operating blanket policies. I know of one instance in which the department took a whole year to react to the complaint, even though officials were provided with clear written evidence that the policy was in operation. Now that the code has added government guidance on that issue, which is hugely welcome, it would be encouraging to have an assurance that in future, where there is clear written evidence of an LEA operating a blanket policy, the Secretary of State will act swiftly to quash it.Before moving to my final point about excluded children, I should like to support the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, about Spearhead's worries about the implication that parents have a duty to arrange the provision specified. I hope that the Minister can set at rest Spearhead's anxieties on that point.
Finally, I should like to say something about excluded children. IPSEA and the RNIB are particularly worried about excluded children. About 20 per cent of IPSEA's children are not necessarily excluded from school but are out of school or excluded at any one time. Around half of the children who are excluded from school at any one time have special educational needs. I sought to persuade the Minister to include in the code of practice guidance that LEAs should identify among those children and young people who are excluded those with special educational needs as the likelihood is that their exclusion in most cases will have resulted from those needs not being met. I was not sufficiently persuaded at the time. Therefore, I am absolutely delighted to hear what the Minister said in her opening speech and I am very grateful for that. I reiterate my very warm welcome to a significantly improved code which will greatly benefit parents, teachers and, of course, children with special educational needs with or without statements.
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