Academies Bill [HL]

Lord Rix Excerpts

Monday 7th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rix]

My Lords, I am motivated to speak out today because of my concern about certain elements of the Academies Bill. If the end of my speech echoes much that other noble Lords, especially my noble friend Lord Low, have already said, I can only apologise, but as it concerns children with special educational needs and disabilities, I trust that a second helping will inspire the Minister, whom we of course welcome to the government Front Bench, to give a positive response.

In common with many in your Lordships’ House, I received numerous representations in the period running up to today’s Second Reading from charities, disability organisations and parents of children with special educational needs, all of whom seek assurances that this Bill will not be used as an opportunity to deny disabled children the right to access a mainstream education in the setting of an academy if that is the child’s and the parents’ stated wish.

This seems an appropriate opportunity to suggest that the notion that special schools have been closing all over the country is a myth. Some local authorities have developed inclusive policies, but not a single one has got rid of all its special schools. It is a postcode lottery. You were 20 times more likely to be sent to separate provision in Newcastle than in Bury if you were issued with a new statement in 2008. There has been a shift in where some pupils are educated. Children whose behaviour is challenging are more likely to be moved into separate provision, while some children with physical and intellectual impairments who were previously in separate provision have been placed in mainstream provision. In England, the nature of the segregated population may have changed but, with the arrival of pupil referral units, numbers have remained constant. There were 1,577 special schools and PRUs in 1995 and 1,512 in 2009—a diminution of exactly 65, which hardly indicates the large-scale closure of special schools all over the country.

These statistics do not count students who are now in separate units that are attached to mainstream schools, which frequently operate in relative isolation from their mainstream neighbour. Some schools are genuinely engaged in the process of inclusion, while many have just been paying lip service to the idea. At their best, local schools can be innovative and responsive to local community goals. At their worst, they will exclude students who make teaching too much of a challenge and who are traditionally excluded, thus perpetuating established inequalities and resigning us to a permanent underclass that is regarded as a worthless burden on the state. I trust that the Academies Bill will not further perpetuate those inequalities.

A moment ago, I referred to the many organisations that have made representations to me on the Bill. One such body is the Special Educational Consortium, which aims to protect and promote the interests of disabled children and children with special educational needs. Mencap, of which I am president, is an active member. As the Special Educational Consortium has pointed out and as my noble friend has stated, 21 per cent of children have some form of special educational need, while 12 per cent of children with SEN achieve five GCSEs at A* to C compared with 57 per cent of their peers. Such statistics reveal that a major factor when analysing the details of this Bill must be an assessment of how the Government’s academies policy will improve the outcomes and experiences of children with SEN and disabilities.

The Government’s own equalities impact assessment of the Bill states that,

“the proportion of SEN pupils achieving 5 good GCSEs including English and Math is lower”—

in academies—

“than the national average”.

While I appreciate that these figures relate to existing academies, of which there is a fairly small sample, they raise legitimate concerns about the outcomes for children with SEN and disabilities in academies. Those outcomes must be of prime importance as we consider the passage of this Bill.

As the Minister will be aware, much of the legal framework and basis for SEN, which was consolidated with cross-party support in the previous Conservative Government’s Education Act 1996, gives parents the right to ensure that their child’s special educational needs are being met. I remain of the view that these important principles are as valid today as they were when the legislation was passed in the 1990s. However, as academies are in effect independent schools that are funded directly by the Secretary of State, they appear to be accountable largely through the funding agreement as opposed to the Education Act. Such a distinction raises important issues as to how academies, particularly as they become more widespread, will be accountable and transparent to parents of children with SEN and disabilities.

As the Minister will be aware, and as my noble friend Lord Low has stressed, a number of existing statutory requirements apply to maintained schools with the specific intention of benefiting children with SEN and disabilities. Maintained schools are required to ensure that their special educational needs co-ordinator, or SENCO, is a qualified teacher. Will this be the case with academies? They are also required to take part in behaviour and attendance partnerships, the purpose of which is to reduce the number of children with SEN who are permanently excluded from school. Will academies be obliged to take part in such partnerships? Finally, because of the schools’ maintained status, by definition, parents can seek redress via the Local Government Ombudsman to consider the actions of schools that they deem are failing to make appropriate provision for children with a statement. What equivalent mechanisms of redress will be in place with regard to academies?

I recognise that a key principle behind academies is to give greater freedom and control to schools, while at the same time empowering the role and importance of parents. How does the Minister expect academies to be made accountable to the parents of children with special educational needs or those who may be disabled? I look forward to a clear and definitive reply in his response.