School Admissions: Selective Inclusion Debate
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Lord Addington
Main Page: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Addington's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
No, not least because, if we are to put the investment into our state schools that the 94% of children who use them need, we need to ensure that that is properly funded. On concerns about independent school closures, which I understand, I am sure noble Lords will be reassured that in 2025 more private schools opened than closed. There are 41 more independent schools in 2026 compared with 2025 and, in fact, the overall fall in private school pupil numbers reflects demographic change across the whole school system.
Lord Addington (LD)
My Lords, will the Minister enlighten us on exactly how the Government will make sure that there is an aggressive approach under this new SEN system to identify and support students and that this is reflected widely in things such as Ofsted reports? What is measured gets done, and at the moment it is quite clear that many schools are not taking that aggressive approach to make sure the right help gets to the pupils who need it.