Education (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, I start by thanking noble Lords who have taken part in this brief debate on an important Motion. I hope that I can answer the questions that have arisen in this brief discussion and I shall review Hansard to ensure that I have picked up all the questions. I shall start with a question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, and alluded to by the noble Lord, Lord Addington, about the burden on the profession. We need to be clear that continuous professional development is very much the tenure of teacher training nowadays. We expect that when teachers finish their training qualifications, they will continue with their professional development. If a teacher becomes a SENCO, continued training and professional development in the area of special educational needs will be extremely important for them. A licence to teach will require a portfolio of skills development in the future and parents will expect teachers and SENCOs to have relevant skills and experience. The noble Earl, Lord Erroll, asked how far the Government are prepared to trust heads to know best. Our entire education system is dependent on the skill, leadership and contribution that head teachers make. We are incredibly indebted to them for the progress that they have made on behalf of our children. We must also listen to what head teachers and specialist teachers have said. It is important that there is more continuity, as the noble Earl said, across schools. That is why these measures have been brought in and why we want to see training and the status of SENCOs raised. This is part of achieving that. It is important that we make the training for SENCOs mandatory. We know that some, as noble Lords have suggested, have received very good training, but we also know that that provision is extremely uneven as others have received little or no preparation for the role that they are asked to take on. We need to tackle that and recognise the importance of the role that SENCOs play in schools. We want to support heads and governors to help strengthen their provision for children with special educational needs. These regulations directly address the concerns raised by the 2006 Select Committee and they are an important part of the commitment made in the Children’s Plan in 1997 to improve SEN provision. The noble Lord, Lord Addington, was concerned about the credit given to existing teaching professionals who fulfil SEN roles. The awarding institutions which will be running the training will take into account prior learning, and qualifications will properly be taken into account. Those who put themselves forward will have their qualifications properly recognised.