My Lords, having laboured, not without difficulty, up the lower slopes of this major and compendious piece of legislation, we come at last to a major plateau where we can either take our rest or chaff at the impediment it still constitutes on the way to the summit.
I refer to Part 3, on special educational needs. I describe it as a major plateau because more than 200 amendments to Part 3 have been tabled for debate in 35 groups. I fear that I am responsible for more than 20 of them. At the current rate of progress, that should take us a good five days. Perhaps that is not so bad; four were allowed for in the Committee calendar. I certainly do not intend to hold up progress any more than necessary. I just observe, however, that the fact that there are so many amendments testifies to concern that the Bill is not yet in a fit state to go on to the statute book if it is properly to serve the needs of the children and young people whose lives and futures it
deals with; to disappointment that the Government have not been more responsive to concerns raised so far; and to the hope that we will see more movement as the Bill passes through this House, so that its passage into law does not need to be delayed beyond the timescale that the Government have in mind.
Let us see whether we can get four amendments out of the way without more ado. I am moving Amendment 65B and speaking to Amendments 87, 90A and 105. They would ensure that the Bill covered children and young people who have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 but do not have a special educational need. The language varies slightly, and this is just a random selection of places in the Bill where children and young people with a disability but not a special educational need could be inserted. Clause 19 deals with local authorities’ role in supporting and involving children and young people, Clause 26 deals with joint commissioning arrangements and Clause 30 concerns the local offer. In that sense, they are probing amendments to gain more understanding of the Government’s reasons for introducing a Bill that deals with children with special educational needs but not with children and young people with a disability who do not have special educational needs. Amendments 65B and 90A also ensure that the principal obligation owed by local authorities by virtue of the Equality Act to children and young people with disabilities but not a special educational need—the duty to make reasonable adjustments—is covered. Amendment 90A, in particular, is designed to ensure that the reasonable adjustment duty is firmly integrated into the planning of education, health and social care services.
Part 3 applies to children and young people with special educational needs. Children and young people with special educational needs are defined in the Bill as those who have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age or a disability which prevents them from making use of the educational facilities usually available in that area. Although many disabled children and young people are covered by that definition of SEN, some are not. For example, the following children would be disabled but have no special educational need: a child with a physical disability whose school was completely accessible to them or a child with a serious health condition that does not impact on their learning or ability to access the school premises. That group could include those with epilepsy, asthma, diabetes or a motor or musculoskeletal disorder, all of which might require medical treatment or therapies to be administered in school, possibly alongside a social care package at home, but would not require any educational interventions.
Research from the universities of Bath and Bristol, commissioned by the DfE itself, estimated that around 25% of disabled children do not also have special educational needs. The impact of this omission is that the Bill will require local authorities and clinical commissioning groups to plan jointly under Clause 26 and review under Clause 27 provision for the 75% of disabled children and young people with SEN but not for the 25% of disabled children without SEN. Under Clause 30, local authorities must set out a local offer of services available for the 75% of disabled children and young people with SEN but not for the 25%
without SEN. The Bill thus creates a dividing line between children with SEN and disabled children without SEN and, as a result, certain things must be done for one group and not the other.
As well as being unfair, leaving disability out of Clauses 26, 27 and 30 does not make sense on a practical level. The label SEN is simply not used by social care or health commissioners. For example, under the Children Act 1989, social care services are delivered to disabled children, not children with SEN. Locally, the Bill as currently drafted will lead to confusing arguments about whether a service is for children with SEN or only for disabled children. There would be no additional cost to including disabled children without SEN in the duty to review services or jointly commission services. It could even end up saving money by creating a more streamlined system.
There are three things wrong with leaving disability out. First, as we have seen, in the new world of integrated education, health and social care, it will lead to confusion and unnecessary boundary disputes. Secondly, it misses a golden opportunity to rationalise the legislation on SEN and disability. SEN legislation is a river fed by two tributaries—SEN legislation itself and disability discrimination legislation. These overlap to a significant extent—some 75% as the universities of Bath and Bristol have shown—but not entirely. This Bill would be a perfect opportunity to bring the two streams together into a single, more coherent framework. Thirdly, leaving disability out goes back on what was promised in the Green Paper on SEN and disability.
This promised a new deal for children with SEN and disabled children. Local authorities would be required to set out a local offer of services available to support children who have SEN or who are disabled. There would be stronger strategic planning and commissioning duties to support children who have SEN or who are disabled. The Bill sets out stronger strategic planning and commissioning duties but, importantly, it does not include disabled children in these clauses, as was promised. I understand that the Government believe that disability is adequately covered in the Bill as a result of Clause 20 but the references to disability there are all to a disability that calls for special educational provision to be made. I fear that does not really bring in those with disabilities but without SEN.
Finally, to hammer the last nail in, it should be noted that the Education Select Committee, in its pre-legislative scrutiny, was in favour of including disabled children without SEN. It said:
“The evidence makes a strong case to include disabled children, with or without SEN, in the scope of entitlement to integrated provision … We recommend this”.
I hope very much that the Minister will review the legislation with a view to bringing in this important category of children and young people. and thereby making the legislative framework a lot more coherent and practical. I beg to move.