Children: Special Educational Needs

Lord Addington Excerpts

Monday 4th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I cannot answer specifically for young children in custody, but I will add that to the answer to the other noble Lord.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that it has been something like more than two decades since we brought in the statement system? The statements or plans often deal with very commonly occurring conditions which we know are going to be there. Why are we dependent on something outside the school to deal with a condition which we will know will occur? Should we not be investing in better teacher training and in support within schools?

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

To answer the first part of the noble Lord’s question, the changes we brought about were to join the system up so that we were not dealing in silos for children who often have complex needs. One of the most important changes was to ensure that there was cross-agency working, not just with education but with health and social care. The other important change was to be much more focused on outcomes for children in need of this sort of support with flexibility in, for example, being able to provide a personal budget for children and families who need this support.