Member

My noble friends Lord Nash and Lord Bailey will speak to our Amendment 502YF. We know that there is, rightly, great caution around permanently excluding a pupil. We felt that if a child who was permanently excluded qualified automatically as a child in need—in my language—this amendment would offer some automatic protection and support to that child. The fact that a pupil cannot study effectively in a mainstream school does not mean that they are not worthy of support—quite the reverse. As I have already said, we need to see the best of alternative provision, and pupil referral units being developed further, but this amendment would provide those children with timely support from children’s services and other local support services.