LORDS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 18 November 1976)

§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGE
My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth not insist on their Amendment No. 9, to which the Commons have disagreed for the Reason numbered 10. In a sense, this is nearer what the noble Baroness was talking about on the last Amendment. When we discussed this Amendment at Report and again at Third reading, I said on both occasions that the Amendment was quite unnecessary. I explained that it would be permissible for a pupil to be admitted to a school in order to benefit from special facilities if his admission was not governed by his general academic ability. I went on to emphasise that it would remain a duty of the local authority to ensure that each child was provided with an education suitable to his or her needs. In essence, then, Clause 1 is dealing with general arrangements; the needs of individual pupils will still fall to be considered as at present.
At Third Reading, the noble Lord, Lord Alexander, described the difficulties which would arise if such a duty were to be placed on local authorities. He persuaded me—and no doubt your Lordships 1548 too—of the impracticability of establishing the particular needs of each pupil without some selection procedure. This Amendment was rejected without debate by another place, but in fact the subject had been debated at some length during their Committee stage. The Commons Reason is that the Amendment is unnecessary—a view, as I have just reminded your Lordships, put forward by the Government in this House also. I hope that the House will not feel the need to press this Amendment further.

§ Lord BEAUMONT of WHITLEY
My Lords, here again I find myself caught between the noble Lord, Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge, and the noble Lord, Lord Alexander of Potterhill. I do not see how the noble Lord, Lord Donaldson, can in fact agree with the Commons Reason and agree with the noble Lord, Lord Alexander. If Lord Alexander is right in saying that to have a duty to do this would put an unconscionable burden on local education authorities, then surely it cannot be said that that duty exists already. If the Commons Reason means anything, it presumably means that that duty exists already. I do not want to press this point, but I ask the noble Lord, Lord Donaldson, to reply to two short questions. Does the local education authority already have power to arrange these matters—to which I imagine the answer is, Yes—and does it, or does it not, at the moment have the duty to arrange these matters?

§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGE
My Lords, I will answer those points and I will check my answer. My answer is, Yes to both questions; but I should like to verify this, although I am fairly sure that I am right.