My Lords, unfortunately, my noble friend Lord Ramsbotham cannot be in place at this time of the evening and he asked me to lead, on his behalf, on this group of amendments, about which I know that he has spoken to the Minister. Had he been here, he would have spoken first to Amendment 19, which is by far the most important in the group, because it is designed to try to strengthen the duty on local authorities and their health partners to make joint commissioning arrangements to satisfy the vast majority of children with special educational needs, including speech, language and communication needs, who do not have education, health and care plans.
At present, while 2.8% of all pupils in our schools have SEN with a statement, 16.2% have SEN with no statement. As a result, the schools they attend will have to try to obtain external support services such as speech and language therapy, educational psychology, children and adolescent mental health services and behaviour support teams for them. If such support is not available, their conditions may well worsen, resulting in the need for expensive EHC plans later on in their lives.
As currently framed, the duty on local authorities regarding those with SEN but no EHC plan requires them and their health partners to make arrangements to agree the provision of support—but, incredibly, not to secure its provision. Nor does the duty require partners either to operate or reach agreement on any provision, which is only sought on the basis of what is “reasonably required”. Health partners can use the NHS Act 2006 to decide for themselves what that amounts to, without even having to discuss with the local authority whether it would be appropriate to provide additional support in particular circumstances. What is more, there is currently no specific requirement for consultation on joint commissioning arrangements, and no specific requirement to publish what has been agreed.
7.30 pm
This group of amendments is designed to mitigate those shortcomings. The amendments would make joint commissioning arrangements stronger and more transparent, enabling them to fulfil their function of securing provision for children and young people with SEN who are not protected by an EHC plan, and better provision of the external support that schools need for children and young people without plans.
Amendment 19 is about securing the provision agreed under Clause 26(3)(a). It also includes an obligation similar to that in Clause 26(4)(b), requiring local authorities to make arrangements to secure the provision in EHC plans. Amendments 20 and 21 are designed to ensure that local authorities and health partners actually operate the joint commissioning arrangements and reach agreement. I see absolutely no point in legislating for the farce of local authorities taking necessary arrangements into account in their decision-making and then not effecting them.
Amendment 22 is designed to ensure that health partners cannot simply use the NHS Act 2006 as a basis for deciding alone what is reasonably required. If joint commissioning is to mean what it implies, health partners must sometimes accept the need for them to do things that they might not otherwise do. Amendment 23 inserts a specific requirement for public involvement in joint commissioning arrangements. Amendment 24 inserts a specific requirement to publish what has been agreed.
My noble friend would have made two further points. First, he would have sought clarification from the Minister on the role of the Minister for Youth Policy in all this. On 3 July, the Government announced that cross-cutting responsibility for youth policy was being transferred from the Department for Education to the Cabinet Office, which would now lead for the Government on: cross-government youth strategy and policy co-ordination; management of the statutory duties on local authorities for youth provision in their areas; and strategic relationship management with young people and youth sector organisations on policy development. Looked at objectively, nothing needs more cross-cutting than what is sought by these amendments. Can the Minister tell the House whether the Minister for Youth Policy, Nick Hurd MP, has a role in that?
Secondly, having read the government amendments published this morning, and in anticipation of the many amendments to Clause 30 on local offers, which turn out not to be offers at all but merely information about what might be available, I suggest to the Minister that at the heart of my noble friend’s concern is the single word “implementation”. On the face of it, there is a disconnect between local authorities and health partners—which I suggest means the Department of Health, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education, no doubt exacerbated by the amount of change that the NHS is currently going through.
Much is at stake here, because we are talking about the future of so many children and young people, about which bodies including lawyers, the National Association of Head Teachers, the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, the Special Educational Consortium, Every Disabled Child Matters, the Children’s Services Development Group, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and many others have expressed concern.
My noble friend is reluctant to test the opinion of the House on this when it is clear that the Government share his concerns. I understand that he has discussed
his offer to host a seminar on the subject early in the new year, at which the Minister kindly offered discussion with officials from both the Department of Health and the Department for Education—to which he would like to add someone who can speak with authority about local authorities. I should be grateful, therefore, if the Minister would expand on what she has in mind when she replies.