My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 198 to 205, that is, all the amendments in this group. One of the reasons I am particularly interested in this issue is because I have been heavily
involved in the Care Bill from the pre-legislative scrutiny stage to the present. One of our concerns throughout that consideration was for children and young people who are just emerging from childhood, so to speak, and get caught in the not quite adult/not quite child time of life when the system sometimes fails them. Therefore, it is important to ensure that we get things right, in particular in relation to special educational needs and education, health and care plans.
These amendments would ensure that other organisations that might need to be involved in this area would be responsible for delivering the services described in the plans and for making sure that they actually do what they say. For many, schools will be the main day-to-day contact point but colleges will often be involved as well. At present, a number of provisions apply to schools but not to colleges, all types of alternative provision and pupil referral units. My amendment would place the same duty on FE colleges as on all types of maintained school settings.
Clause 64 places a duty on schools to inform the parents of a child without an EHC plan and/or the young person without an EHC plan when special education provision is being made for them. Without these amendments, young people up to the age of 18 who do not have EHC plans who attend school and/or their parents will be entitled to be informed, but young people of the same age who are students at FE colleges will not. We have to remember that from September 2013 young people will be able to attend FE colleges from the age of 14, so this issue applies to a number of young people.
I understand that the Government are somewhat reluctant to place any additional duties on FE colleges, but my concern is primarily with the children and young people concerned rather than with the colleges, I am afraid. If they are to be at the heart of the new system, the information provided should not vary in this way according to the type of institution that they happen to attend.
Clause 65 places a duty on schools to prepare a report containing special educational needs information. This information concerns the implementation of the governing body’s or proprietor’s policy for pupils at the school with special educational needs, the arrangements for the admission of disabled pupils to the school, the steps taken to prevent less favourable treatment of disabled pupils, the facilities provided to assist access to the school by disabled pupils and the accessibility plan which schools must publish under the Equality Act 2010. In a similar way to Clause 64, the amendments, which are very straightforward, would simply place the same duty on FE colleges or similar institutions as on maintained schools. I beg to move.