My Lords, Amendments 144 and 146 are tabled in my name and that of my noble friends Lady Hughes and Lady Jones and Amendment 175A in my name only.
Clause 37 deals with EHC plans and subsection (2) specifies what should be in the plan. Amendment 144 states that the plan should specify any provision necessary to the family of the child or young person. As with a
number of other amendments, it seeks to place the capabilities of the child or young person’s family at the heart of any assessment process, which is important in properly informing the provision that they may need to have specified in an EHC plan.
It is prudent that family life and home life are considered when the provision is made. Families are key to the well-being of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and to ensuring that they reach their full potential. They are a crucial resource in improving the outcomes of those children and young people and we should not overlook them. In the other place, the Minister said that EHC plans should describe the range of services that are needed to meet the needs of a child or young person and that the focus of plans must be the child or young person. He cited other things that would benefit parents and families, such as short breaks or the provision of transport. He said that the Government did not think it necessary to add anything specific to the legislation but would continue to develop the code of practice. I am not sure that he is right in that respect, but I am encouraged that the Minister said that he will look again and reflect on Amendment 131, tabled and spoken to by my noble friend Lady Jones. As that is very similar to Amendment 144, he might care to reflect on Amendment 144 at the same time and give us some good news afterwards.
Amendment 169 is tabled in response to the report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee on this Bill. The Government have not tabled any amendments in response to the report, so I hope that the Minister will take this opportunity to explain how the powers will be used.
I turn to Amendment 175A. All too often, we hear of the adversarial struggle that parents face to obtain the right support for their children. If anybody has any doubt about that, I suggest a five-minute conversation with the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, who will enlighten them about the way parents often have to struggle on behalf of their children. The stated intention of the Bill is that it will make it easier for families to get the support they need. That is a noble intention.
However, an oversight in the Bill about what happens when a family moves is causing great uncertainty and anxiety to a great number of families and support organisations. We all know the terrible struggle that families with children and young people with special educational needs and disability too often have to go through to access vital services. Seven out of 10 parents of children with autism, for example, say that it has not been easy to get the educational support that their child needs.
Without Amendment 175A, such families will continue to have to struggle to access the services that they desperately require. The Bill currently perpetuates the status quo, whereby when families move from one local authority area to another, they do so without any clear idea as to what support their child might receive. They can also face the prospect of costly legal battles, with the appalling result that children and young people end up missing out on education while such battles are fought.
In many cases, parents feel trapped. A parent told the National Autistic Society—here I declare an interest as a vice-president of the National Autistic Society—that they feared moving because,
“we would have to start the assessment process from scratch, even though Mohammed has very complex needs. The stress of doing that all over again, along with the risk that we might lose his place at his current school is terrifying for us”.
It cannot be right that, should the family move, they might have to restart the assessment process, potentially disrupting the education and healthcare of children and young people.
The amendment is intended to echo existing clauses in the draft Care and Support Bill, which set out a local authority’s responsibility both when someone moves into the area and when someone moves out. It is impracticable to expect local authorities to replicate exactly the provision agreed by a different authority. However, it should be expected that provision is based on the previous assessment and agreed outcomes rather than starting from scratch. The positives of such streamlining are manifest: withdrawing the shadow of fear for families that they may have to undergo complex assessments for a second time; and ensuring crucial continuity of provision of services for children and young people.
Regulation 3, paragraph 15, entitled “Transfer of EHC plans”, sets out in detail what should happen when a child or young person with an EHC plan moves to another local authority area. Unfortunately, it makes no mention of continuity provision. I wonder whether the Minister will be prepared to review that. Alternatively, will he commit to, at a minimum, strengthening the regulations that will dictate the portability of education, health and care plans to ensure that there is clear guidance for local authorities and coherence between this Bill and the Care Bill?
As a brief aside, when I served as a Defence Minister, I constantly found that servicemen were reluctant to move, sometimes even when it involved a promotion, if they had children with special educational needs and their children were statemented, because they had to go through the whole process again. We were working on a plan for a statement passport. Unfortunately, I had a phone call from No. 10 and Mr Blair awarded me the DCM—don’t come Monday—so I was no longer a Minister and was unable to take that forward. However, there is merit in having such a passport. By ensuring that education, health and care plans are portable across local authorities, we will ensure continuity of service. I think that we all want that, and, therefore, I beg to move.