Member

Looking at the provisions of the Bill, I ask: why is it proposed that permission should be required to remove a special education needs child from school? We all know what a state local authority special needs processes are in at the moment: there are long queues for tribunals, real difficulty in finding the right placements and a general adversarial mindset born of a shortage of money. What is the basis for thinking that putting local authorities in a position of authority over the children will actually work, and for thinking that they have the time and expertise to make this judgment in a better way than the parents? If we are going to do this, it is my firm belief that we have to offer parents in this circumstance access to a tribunal, so that they can have a fair way of disagreeing with a local authority, as one does in other aspects of life. I very much hope that the Government will support that.