HC Deb 26 March 1970 vol 798 cc1688-700

1.40 p.m.

Mr. Frederick Willey (Sunderland, North)

The case of Janice Gamble is a sad and difficult one. Although I am greatly obliged to Mr. Speaker for selecting it for debate today, I only raise the subject with the greatest possible reluctance, because I feel that I have no alternative. I have no wish to be unfair. I recognise that all those who have been involved in this case have tried in their several ways to be helpful. As it is often a target for criticism, I also pay a tribute to the Press, which has been equally sympathetic. The result, however, has been that this case has brought considerable suffering to a very sensitive child.

Janice Gamble has no overt physical handicap. She is a very happy, pleasant and delightful child. But she has a congenital heart defect which is permanent and untreatable. The most that the specialists can say is that she will get a little better as she grows older. Her condition is such that although she is otherwise perfectly normal she easily becomes breathless. In particular she is unable to climb stairs except slowly unless she is assisted. Janice is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble, who, seven years ago, bought a house on the Seaburn Dene Estate, in my constituency. They bought this house on a mortgage at considerable sacrifice, which is illustrated by the fact that whilst they have a garage they have no car.

The sole reason was that the house was two or three minutes away from Monk-wearmouth School, which is a grammar school of recognised excellence. It is in new buildings which form the first phase of a comprehensive school. Mr. and Mrs. Gamble wanted to do their best to help Janice and to see that she had an opportunity of attending this school and qualify for a sedentary occupation, thus safeguarding her future.

In 1965, Janice went to Fulwell Junior School which is a two-storey building. Her mother wheeled her to school and back on a light, collapsible wheelchair, but while she was there the staff and pupils took over and were responsible for her. She was happy and popular at school and it is agreed by everyone that she was fully capable of dealing with the school curriculum. In the last school report she is described as "a popular member of the class who integrated well with group activities". She could not, for example, take part in sports, but was associated with them by acting as a timekeeper. She went to all the school outings and I am told that where the wheelchair could not go her fellow pupils carried her.

At present, Janice is a very active member of the Girls' Brigade, a leader of the junior brigade which meets in the local church hall. This is a two-storey building and it involves tackling stairs. At her junior school, Janice, like the other children came under the shadow of the 11-plus. It is particularly ironical that at the moment one of the lively controversies in Sunderland is the question of parents' choice.

No doubt her mother was more anxious and worried than most parents and she called to see the director of education and asked him about Janice, whether she would go to the Monkwearmouth School. The director of education told her, "I do not see why not. Nothing will stop her going to Monkwearmouth School if she has the ability". To be fair, the director now says that he cannot remember Mrs. gamble calling, but adds that she may well have done so.

I do not find this surprising. The director is a sympathetic official, who is not remote. He is easily accessible to parents and I would concede that he probably did not accord the same significance to what he told Mrs. Gamble as did Mrs. Gamble.

Happily, the letter arrived telling her parents that Janice has been awarded "a selective school place at Monkwearmouth School". I have no reason to doubt that this was the happiest day in the lives of the Gamble family. It was not only a happy day for Mr. and Mrs. Gamble and Janice, but for the headmaster, staff and children at Fulwell Junior School, who were equally delighted. The headmaster has told me so. The children cheered Janice when she came into the class. The doctors too were delighted that she was going to Monkwearmouth School. What is significant is that the staff at the junior school who had the experience of Janice at school and the doctors who had the medical knowledge of her condition never for a moment thought that Janice would be unable to manage at Monkwearmouth.

Undoubtedly, there would be difficulties. Monkwearmouth School is a four-storey building and there is no lift. The curriculum involves lesson changes which, in turn, involve moving from floor to floor. I recognise that as Janice grows older she will be heavier, but, on the other hand, I should have thought that as she grows older she will become steadier and more able to look after herself. The difficulties that might arise at Monkwearmouth School became apparent because in July, when the parents of new pupils were invited to visit the school, Mrs. Gamble did so, taking Janice with her in the collapsible wheelchair.

She saw the deputy head who was no doubt surprised. There is equally no doubt that the deputy head was very sympathetic but said that she would have to have a word with the headmaster. She telephoned the headmaster. Mrs. Gamble did not see the headmaster and Mr. and Mrs. Gamble failed to obtain an interview with him. A few days later there was an oven afternoon for the parents at the school and Mr. and Mrs. Gamble again sought an interview, unsuccessfully. At the general meeting of parents they tackled the headmaster, who said that "the stairs were heavy".

There may be some confusion about the visits to the school, but it is clear that the deputy head showed Mrs. Gamble round the school; that a sixth former and Mrs. Gamble carried Janice upstairs; that Janice walked downstairs, and that Mrs. Gamble was unable to obtain an interview with the headmaster. It is clear that Mrs. Gamble made suggestions about what provision should be made for Janice and that these subsequently were alleged to be exacting. I regard this as completely irrelevant. What we are concerned about is what provision could sensibly be made if Janice attended the school and what risks might be involved.

The consequence was that a second letter came saying that Janice had not a place. This caused as great distress as the earlier letter had caused happiness. The whole world of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble collapsed. They saw the director and deputy director, who were sympathetic. It was explained to them that the headmaster had expressed himself unwilling to accept responsibility for allowing children to carry Janice upstairs, since this involved unwarranted risks. He also expressed the opinion that these risks were too great even for an experimental period. The director was sympathetic, but he felt himself bound by the opinion expressed by the headmaster. All sorts of alternative suggestions were made, some of which, to be fair, involved considerable expense.

In August, the education committee was informed and fully discussed the case. The position was that it agreed that Janice had a selective place. It was its view that the premises available in Sunderland were unsuitable and inquiries made with the neighbouring authorities had proved fruitless. It tried every single-storey grammer school in the area, but there was not a single vacancy. It was willing, if Mr. and Mrs. Gamble agreed, to send Janice to a residential grammar school which would cater for her physical handicap and if she did not agree they would send her to the Fulwell Secondary Modern Grammar School for Girls, a single-storey building.

To complete this account of the events, on 5th September, notwithstanding the report I have given of the education committee, the vice-chairman of that committee publicly stated This is the first time I have heard about it. I will make inquiries into the case. A week later it was publicly stated that a spokesman of the local education authority had said: A decision has been made … It is now up to the Secretary of State to intercede if he feels it necessary". It was at that stage that Mr. Gamble wrote to me. He said: My wife and I want something done as soon as possible for our daughter Janice. We feel she is on trial. The only offence she has committed is to pass her 11-plus exam, and still she is not at school. Janice has a heart complaint, but up to now she has managed to go to school like any other child, my wife taking her in the chair, but once in school she has been treated like everyone else. She has not lost any schooling whatever through illness. Then Mr. Gamble goes on to relate the events to which I have already referred.

I then took up the case with the Secretary of State, and in October I received a reply from my right hon. Friend the Minister of State. I thought it proper to make further representations, and in November I received a further reply. Since both these letters were marked "In confidence", I cannot refer to them, but I am sure my right hon. Friend will agree that I have fairly represented the facts and it was thought that these facts rightly caused concern. I was surprised to find that, before I received the second letter in November, a formal notice of school attendance under Section 37 of the Education Act had been made on Mr. Gamble. I was surprised at that because there had been no reference to it in the correspondence with me.

During the Christmas holidays I again attended to this case and made inquiries. On 5th January I took up the matter again, and on 14th January I was assured that I would get a reply in a week or two. I am still awaiting a reply. For about seven months, therefore, Janice has not been at school and for three months I have been awaiting a reply. During that time nobody concerned in the case, apart from myself, has called to see Mr. and Mrs. Gamble, nor has anybody asked Mr. and Mrs. Gamble to call and see them. All this has happened at a time when there is considerable local interest in the issue about parents' choice.

Throughout this time Janice has gallantly tried to do her best. Children attending the school have brought books and work to her and she has remained surprisingly cheerful. But having frequently visited her home, I feel that this sensitive child has been cruelly treated and is now beginning to be affected by this long anxiety to which she has been subjected.

I am very disturbed about moral aspects of this case. There is the question of the governors. In the past, I have always argued about the importance of the governors of schools. From the first word to the last I have heard nothing about the governors. Nobody has thought it fit and proper to inform me as to what they may or may not have said. So far as I know, no action has been taken in respect of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble by the governors.

There is a second matter that concerns me. I have always in the past emphasised the importance of the headmaster in a school, and I recognise that he should be the responsible person in the school. But what disturbs me is that a headmaster with such responsibilities should not exercise them in a completely isolated fashion. He should have seen Mr. and Mrs. Gamble and fully discussed the matter with them.

The third thing that disturbs me relates to the processes by which administrative decisions are taken. It is far too often assumed that a benevolent bureaucracy must take decisions which are in the interests of the individual citizen. It is important if decisions are taken affecting individual citizens that those persons should be persuaded of the rightness of those decisions. I have by now a very good knowledge of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble and I have not found them unreasonable people. I am convinced that, if they were persuaded that there was no alternative but a complete shattering of their dreams for Janice's education, nevertheless, they would accept the situation.

But they are not convinced and I am not convinced. That is why I am pressing this matter upon my right hon. Friend today. What disturbs me is the arrangements at Monkswearmouth School. A four-storey building should have more facilities to cope with difficulties such as these. After all, this is only the first stage of a comprehensive school, and I wonder what will happen on the completion of the second and third stages. There may be a case for the provision of a lift or other arrangement in a school of this kind. That may involve some cost, but that is not an issue here. The local education authority in any event, is prepared to involve itself in considerable cost. However, the family feels that Janice ought to be at home, looked after by her parents.

If we consider Janice Gamble herself, I feel that much more serious consideration should be given to the feasibility of an experimental period. I have not been able to check on this, but I am told that there was a polio victim at this school who is looked after extremely well: a rota of pupils being prepared to attend her. I cannot confirm that, but I was told about it when I was in the town last weekend. I am certain that this sort of precedent should give those responsible much more confidence in what they might be able to do.

As I have said, I have found the parents reasonable. If it were demonstrated that the risks were unwarranted, I believe that it would be accepted. On the other hand, if this experiment should prove successful, it would be an act of goodness which would have an enormous effect upon the school.

I suggest to my right hon. Friend that we have a meeting at the school of all those who have been concerned about the case. Let us openly examine and discuss the possibilities and arrive at the best conclusion that we can reach. Let us do it immediately. I would be willing to attend, and I would accept whatever conclusion was reached, as I am sure would the parents. It is necessary to demonstrate and agree about the proper course of action.

I may be wrong, but I believe that it is and has been possible to devise an acceptable experiment without risk to Janice. In the light of that experience, I believe that we could then come to a sensible decision about whether Janice should remain at the school. I say without prejudice that we should have a meeting at the school of all those concerned so that we can earnestly try to reach a conclusion; and it is not unimportant to bear in mind that such a meeting would demonstrate that no trouble is too much for any of us for the sake of this child's future.

2.4 p.m.

The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Miss Alice Bacon)

My right hon. Friend has described most feelingly the situation of Janice Gamble and her parents. I can only add that I share his sympathy for this unfortunate little girl, both in her physical disability and in her natural frustration in being unable, through no fault of her own, to attend the school of her own and her parents' choice. I fully agree with him that some means must be found to resolve the present deadlock, so that Janice can resume her schooling.

I am certain that the local education authority also holds this same view and will do everything within its powers to provide an acceptable solution. Indeed, a great deal of thought has been given both by the authority's officers and those of my own Department to possible ways of resolving the deadlock. I am sorry that my right hon. Friend should think that, because he did not receive an immediate answer to his letter to me nothing has been done. I can assure him that, in the telephonic and personal contacts between my Department and the local education authority, a great deal of time and effort has been spent trying to get a solution to this difficult problem.

Both he and I could make long speeches posing the problems and difficulties of this case. What is not so easy is to find a solution that is acceptable to all the parties involved.

For many years, Janice has suffered from an inoperable, physical condition and has become breathless at the slightest exertion. She moves on the level in a wheel chair and needs help from two people to go upstairs. I am told that on most occasions she has to be carried upstairs.

This condition did not cause particular difficulty while she was at Fulwell junior school. This school operates at one level on the first floor, to which Janice was carried up one flight of stairs at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions and down at the end of these sessions. It was possible, therefore, with the co-operation of staff and her fellow pupils, for Janice to take full advantage of her educational opportunities. But, Janice is getting older, and the position is becoming a little more difficult. It is one thing for the staff to carry a small child up one flight of stairs. It is an entirely different matter for the staff or the senior pupils to carry an older teenager up three or perhaps four flights.

There was no reason at this earlier stage for the local education authority to consider whether Janice required special education. It was quite clear that she was doing perfectly well where she was and that the educational difficulties caused by her physical condition could be overcome in the school which she was attending. It must be admitted that, unfortunately, although the school health service was well aware of the state of Janice's health, this information was not available to the officers who undertook selection last summer for grammar school entrance. Janice passed the selection test and was allotted to the Monkwearmouth grammar school.

It was only after the decision was made and conveyed to her parents that attention was drawn to her physical disabilities, and the impossibility of admitting her to a school built on four storeys, without a lift, and with stairs that progressively narrowed in the higher floors.

This failure to convey essential information between branches of the local authority was most unfortunate and has had most unfortunate results. The local education authority accepts that, having selected her for a grammar school place, it should do all in its power to provide her with a grammar school education. The Government, as hon. Members will know, are promoting legislation to put an end to selection at the age of 11. But they accept the authority's view that, so long as a selective system exists, the results of selection should be implemented, so far as is practicable.

The authority throughout has been acting with this end in view, and I must in fairness to it and its officers say that they seem to me to have done their best to resolve the difficulties. I must repudiate any suggestion that it has acted unsympathetically or ungenerously. It has been giving very careful thought to possible solutions, and more recently its officers and mine have consulted at length to see whether any possibilities had been overlooked. This is why my right hon. Friend has not been able to have a final reply to his latest letter.

My right hon. Friend implies that more could have been done to accept Janice at Monkwearmouth school. I am satisfied that the local authority was not acting unreasonably in the attitude that it adopted.

Janice is a very severely disabled little girl, and it is only the fortunate circumstances that the Fulwell Junior School operates on a single floor that has prevented the limitation that her health imposes on her education from becoming a serious issue long ago.

I am informed that the Authority fully support the Headmaster in his view that it would not be practicable for Janice to be educated there, and is not prepared to take the risk of accident or damage that might ensue.

It is natural that her parents should wish to minimise the extent of her disabilities, but it is not in dispute that she would have to be carried in her wheel chair up and down stairs at times when there is a general movement of pupils between classrooms and between floors. I am sure it is no sign of lack of sympathy to say that this would cause some difficulty.

I have received a letter from the local authority describing the occasion mentioned by my right hon. Friend when Mrs. Gamble took Janice to open day. It states that on the afternoon of 7th July Mrs. Gamble went to the school with her daughter, who was in a wheelchair. Whilst being shown round the school Mrs. Gamble insisted that Janice would need her wheelchair for the long corridors and would have to be carried from floor to floor. As an experiment the deputy head teacher enlisted the aid of a sixth form boy and Mrs. Gamble and between them they manoeuvred the wheelchair to the first floor. The deputy head would not like to repeat the experience. This same procedure would have to be gone through if they wanted to go to another floor.

I have recently considered whether it would be possible for Janice to go to this grammar school and perhaps stay on the ground floor. But the only available rooms on the ground floor are some classrooms, toilets, administration, kitchen and dining room. Indeed, the domestic science, music, geography, chemistry and languages departments are on the second floor, and science, art, craft and music are on the third floor.

As I said, I have considered whether Janice could enter the school but stay on the ground floor. However, it is quite clear that, if we try this solution, Janice would feel out of it because she would not be with her classmates for particular lessons.

Another important point is that if Janice enters this school somebody would have to carry her from floor to floor. I accept that things would be very much better and the whole matter would be solved if the school had a lift. Even if this is structurally possible, it would take time to install, as my right hon. Friend will agree. But, in present circumstances, somebody would have to carry Janice from floor to floor, and this would involve either teachers or children in the school.

Mr. Willey

I do not think that we should talk about carrying Janice from floor to floor. She needs someone on either side to help her. I make this point, otherwise we have a picture of her being physically lifted. I concede that people would have to take her up stairs.

Miss Bacon

There is a little discrepancy here. I am told that she is severely disabled when going up stairs. The fact remains that she would have to be assisted by either the staff or the pupils of the school.

One important point which the local authority has had to consider, which has not been mentioned by my right hon. Friend, is liability in case of an accident. If there was an accident involving either Janice or other pupils in the school the local authority would be liable for damages. That is a matter on which I have taken legal advice.

The authority has also explored a range of alternatives to see whether any other school than the Fulwell Secondary Modern School, can be offered, where G.C.E. courses are available though not the full range of grammar school education. I understand that Mr. and Mrs. Gamble are not prepared to allow Janice to go to Fulwell School.

But all these alternatives have fallen down for one reason or another. The local authority has looked for many miles around. The problem is either that the building is unsatisfactory or the courses are not of a kind acceptable to Mr. and Mrs. Gamble. Home tuition has also been considered, but it is obvious that it would be far from effective as a means of providing an all round education.

Residential special schools in neighbouring authority areas has been suggested, but Mr. and Mrs. Gamble have not been willing to send Janice away from home, apart from the fact that none of these schools could offer the full range of grammar school education. I do not blame Mr. and Mrs. Gamble in any way for wanting to keep Janice at home.

We are left, therefore, with a very limited range of possibilities. There is the Monkwearmouth School with all the difficulties, to which I do not see a solution. On the other hand, there is the Fulwell Secondary Modern School which, as I have already pointed out in correspondence with my right hon. Friend, does not seem an unreasonable offer. However, it is not satisfactory to Mr. and Mrs. Gamble.

The only effective alternative would be the one school for physically handicapped children, which provides a full grammar school education. This is the Florence Treloar School at Alton, Hampshire. The local education authority is willing to negotiate for a vacancy, and, if successful, to pay the fees. There is no question of lack of generosity in its action. At the same time I appreciate that it would be a great wrench to Mr. and Mrs. Gamble to allow Janice to go so far from home, and I certainly would not wish to encourage them to accept this suggestion against their own judgment.

All I can say is that it appears to me the only workable alternative to Fulwell Secondary Modern School, and the only way in which to arrange for Janice to attend a Grammar School other than the Monkwearmouth school.

I am sorry to have had to conclude by posing these two alternatives. I should be prepared to consider any possibilities which have not already been suggested, but I doubt whether there are any. In one way or another this case, which has already dragged on far too long, must be resolved. I would propose, therefore, to seek the views of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble on these alternatives. If they are unwilling to accept any of them, we shall have to look at the Fulwell Secondary Modern School where Janice would at least be able to resume her schooling, which has so long been disrupted.

When I learned that my right hon. Friend was to raise this matter in the House today, I was on the point of sending a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Gamble. They had suggested that they could come to meet officers of my Department to consider the alternatives. I should be happy for Mr. and Mrs. Gamble to do this if they wish, but without holding out any hope of Janice being able to go to Monkwearmouth School unless some solution could be found acceptable to both the local authority and the school. The difficulty is that Monkwearmouth is the only school which will be considered by the parents, and that is the one school which the local authority, for the reasons I have outlined, feels that it is impossible for her to attend.

Like my right hon. Friend, I sympathise very much with Janice and her parents. I can see also the difficulties of the local education authority and the school in having to negotiate Janice and her wheelchair in this four-storey building. As I have said, there are difficult legal problems about who is responsible if there is an accident, but we shall go on to see what we can do.

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, where a child is out of school for a long time, the Secretary of State is eventually called upon to name the school to which the child shall go. In doing this we have to consider whether or not the local authority has been unreasonable in the offers which have been made. In this case it is difficult to say that the local authority has been unreasonable. I am prepared to enable Mr. and Mrs. Gamble to discuss this with my officers and to see my right hon. Friend, but I do not hold out any hope that there is a simple solution to Janice attending the Monkwearmouth school.