§ Mr. Alexander FletcherI beg to move amendment No. 26, in page 14, line 43 after 'examination'. insert
'and a report by any teacher in their employment who is or has been concerned in his education,'.
§ Mr. SpeakerWith this we may take Government amendments Nos. 27 and 28.
§ Mr. FletcherThe amendment specifies that an education authority, when carrying out an assessment of a child under new section 61 of the 1980 Act, is required to ensure that a report is prepared by a teacher in its employment who at any time has been concerned with the child's education.
The matter was raised in Committee by the hon. Member for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire (Mr. O'Neill), and we are happy to comply with his request.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendments made: No. 27, in page 16, line 39 leave out
'including the medical and psychological examinations'.
No. 28, in page 17, line 8 after 'school', insert
'other than one under their management'.
No. 29, in page 18, line 11, at end insert—
'(d) subject to subsection (4) below, their decision refusing his placing request in respect of the child.'.
No. 30, in page 18, line 31, at end insert—
'(c) subject to subsection (4) below, their decision refusing a placing request in respect of the young person.'.
No. 31, in page 18, line 32, after 'authority', insert
'as to nomination of a school to be attended by a recorded child or recorded young person'.
No. 32, in page 18, line 35, leave out from 'request' to end of line 38.
§ No. 33, in page 18, line 40, leave out '(2)(b)' and insert '(d) or (2)(b) or (c)'.
§ No. 34, in page 18, line 42, after 'reference', insert 'in respect of him'.
§ No. 35, in page 20, line 10, after '(1)', insert 'or (2)'.
§ No. 36, in page 20, line 11, leave out 'nominating' and insert 'as to nomination'.
§ No. 37, in page 20, line 12, after 'Act', insert 'of'.
§
No. 38, in page 20, line 14, after 'relates', insert
'or refusing a placing request in respect of him'.
§
No. 39, in page 20, line 26, at end insert—
'In this subsection, the reference to a placing request includes a reference to a placing request the making of which has, by virtue of section 63(3) of this Act, enabled the reference to the appeal committee to be made; and the reference to the specified school includes a reference to the school specified in such a placing request.'.
§
No. 40, in page 20 leave out line 31 and insert
'nomination of a school to be attended by him or refusing a placing request in respect of him; and'.
§
No. 41, in page 20, line 38, at end insert
'In this subsection, the reference to the specified school includes a reference to the school specified in the placing request the making of which has, by virtue of section 63(3) of this Act, enabled the reference to the appeal committee to be made.'.
§ No. 42, in page 22, line 6, after 'the', insert 'nomination of a'.
§
No. 43, in page 22, line 7, after 'person', insert
'or refusing the placing request to which the reference relates'.
§ No 44, in page 22, line 11, after '63' , insert '(1) or (2)'.
§
No. 45, in page 22, line 13, after 'the', insert
219
'nomination of a'.
§
No. 46, in page 22, line 14, after 'person', insert
'or refusing the placing request to which the reference relates'.
§ No. 47, in page 22, line 16, leave out 'the' and insert 'any'.
§
No. 48, in page 22, line 17, at end insert
'In this subsection, the reference to the specified school includes a reference to the school specified in the placing request the making of which has, by virtue of section 63(3) of this Act, enabled the reference to the appeal committee to be made'.
§ No. 49, in page 22, line 20, leave out '(2)(b)' and insert '(d) or (2)(b) or (c)'.
§
No. 50, in page 22, line 32, after 'section', insert
'against the decision of an appeal committee confirming the decision of an education authority as to the nomination of a school to be attended by the child or young person'.
§ No. 51, in page 23, line 17, leave out 'the' and insert 'any'.
§
No. 52, in page 23, line 17, leave out 'his Record' and insert
'the Record of the child or young person'.
§
No. 53, in page 23, line 18, at end insert
'In this subsection, the reference to the placing request includes a reference to the placing request the making of which enabled, by virtue of section 63(3) of this Act, the reference to the appeal committee whose decision thereon has been appealed to the sheriff, to be made; and the reference to the specified school includes a reference to the school specified in such a placing request'.
§ No. 54, in page 23, line 22, after 'the', insert 'nomination of a'.
§
No. 55, in page 23, after 'him', insert
'or refusing the placing request made in respect of him'.
§
No. 56, in page 23, line 28, at end insert
'In this subsection the references to the placing request and the specified school shall be construed in the same way as in subsection (6) above'.—[Mr. Alexander Fletcher.]
§ Mr. CanavanI beg to move amendment No. 58, in page 25, line 39, at end add:
'(8) If the recommendation under subsection 5(a) above is that the child or young person would benefit therefrom, then the education authority shall be under a duty to provide suitable education for the child or young person'.What is the point of going through the process of recording a child or young person unless we place on the local education authority a duty to provide suitable education for that child or young person? I am including children of pre-school age and young people beyond the statutory school-leaving age. Would it not be reasonable to say that if a child or young person has been recorded as having special educational needs, adequate educational provision should be made for him or her?
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThere is no need for the proposed provision, because education authorities have a general duty under section 1(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to make adequate provision for school education and further education for their area. If they themselves report that a particular handicapped child would in their opinion benefit from continuing education, a duty to provide that education, if it is asked for, arises clearly from their general duty. They could not possibly fail to provide it and still say that they were making adequate provision.
§ Amendment negatived.
220§ Mr. CanavanI beg to move amendment No. 59, in page 27, line 14, at end insert—
'65G. The Secretary of State shall provide additional financial assistance to enable local education authorities to fulfil their additional duties under this section 4.'.The Warnock recommendations, as included in this part of the Bill, will place an extra financial onus on local education authorities. Therefore, the Minister ought to provide more money to the LEAs so that they can adequately fulfil these extra obligations, which are so essential and which will be of great help to many handicapped children and young people.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe clause does not create additional or more onerous duties for education authorities. It replaces the existing duties with new ones, more in tune with current thinking on provisions for special educational needs following the publication of the Warnock report.
Many desirable improvements can be made to the whole spectrum of educational provision. The Government are anxious to improve the quality of Scottish education. Such improvements are not what the Bill is all about. Clause 4 creates a new framework for the future development of provision for special educational needs and thus clears the way for progress as resources permit.
§ Amendment negatived.