Education: Children with Special Needs (Hansard, 21 February 1990)

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, it is for local education authorities to provide the necessary resources in the light of the annual local authority grant settlements and within the statutory framework, and in particular in the context of pupils with special educational needs, the Education Act 1981 and the Education Reform Act 1988.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. However, she will see on page 1 of the annual report of HM Inspector of Schools that large numbers of pupils and students are getting a raw deal. Furthermore, and sadly, less able pupils and students are much more likely to experience the poor and shoddy than are the more 278 able. The reply that I received from the noble Baroness was not very satisfactory. Does she not agree that those are the more vulnerable children? Does she not also agree that if they are not given the help and experience of qualified teachers, they will be the ones playing truant and, as the right reverend Prelate said, they will be the ones who will be homeless and walking the streets in the future?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I hope that the noble Baroness will understand if I resist the temptation to quote from that particular document in my reply today. The point that the noble Baroness has raised is very important. I see that report as a management tool not only for the Government in considering its policies and determining whether they need to be modified but also for the local authorities. It will allow them to examine how they provide for children with special needs and to decide if and when to make modifications in that provision.

§ Lord Dormand of Easington
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the quotation which my noble friend has just given from the HMI report represents the biggest condemnation yet of the. inaction of the Government in implementing the Education Act 1981, which is specifically related to the issue of assessment of special needs? Is she further aware that the 1981 Act had the total support of the government of the day, of parents, of LEAs, of administrators, teachers and everybody concerned, and yet the Government have done virtually nothing about it? Does she accept that that is confirmed and condemned again in the report?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I said that I would resist the temptation to go back to the document. However, I believe that the noble Lord overstates the case. If the document as a whole is taken into account, he will find many positive indications that a great deal is being done. This group of children is vulnerable in our schools and it is very important that the 1981 Act is implemented. There is reference in the document to the fact that some local authorities have not given that matter the highest priority. The importance of the document is that it highlights the need to ensure that everyone looks at the way in which they set policies and that not only the 1981 Act but also the 1988 Act is properly implemented so that those children will be less vulnerable in the future.

§ Lord Gainford
My Lords, can my noble friend give me, as a one-time sufferer, any information about what is being done for children needing speech therapy?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, it would be difficult for me to answer the point specifically. The noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, who is not present today, was responsible for a report which identified some 20 per cent, of our children as being in need of special education. Of those, 2 per cent, were severely in need of special help. Speech therapy is a very important part of serving the needs of some of the other 18 per cent, and I know that it is part of the provision. However, I am afraid that at present I am not able to answer that specific question.

§ Lord Parry
My Lords, does the noble Baroness accept that the Question poses for the whole House as well as for her a dilemma regarding the British education system at present? Does she accept that the general standard of education, which has been criticised for a long time, is so low in the mainstream schools that the only hope for children in separate education is the maintenance of the schools where they are presently taught? Does the policy not threaten to put back into schools which are under-equipped to deal with their present responsibilities the quite impossible task of looking after mentally and physically handicapped children?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I am prepared to take a more positive view of the state of the education system. It is quite true that, far from just talking about the state of the education system, this Government recognised, as the previous government recognised, that something had to be done. This Goverment have acted. The Government also recognise that there is a long way to go. In the area of shortage of teachers, the problem is being tackled. In the area of pay, the problem is being tackled. In the area of buildings, allocations are greater than they were. In the area of standards, the national curriculum with assessment testing will go a very long way to improving the state of education in our country.

§ Lord Parry
My Lords, the noble Baroness will probably accept that I tried to make an apolitical point. In doing so will she accept that when the concept of returning mentally and physically handicapped and socially deprived children into the mainstream of education was developed in Scandinavia it presupposed that the schools were prepared to take the children and preparations were made accordingly?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I still believe that the noble Lord has taken a rather negative view. It disregards the enormous amount of excellent work that is going on in our schools for the more vulnerable children. The importance of the report is that it highlights areas where there could be improvement. I hope that both the Government and local education authorities will look at the way in which they provide for vulnerable children and improve their service.

§ Baroness Carnegy of Lour
My Lords, the Question is about providing the necessary resources for children who are placed in mainstream schools. Does my noble friend agree that since the recent Education Reform Act gave local authorities the ability to devolve responsibility for budgets to schools, noble Lords opposite will have to develop the habit of addressing local authorities about how resources are deployed in individual schools? They should not perpetually address their questions to the Government who have devolved the responsibility and given local authorities in turn the ability to devolve that responsibility to the schools.

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, my noble friend Lady Carnegy is absolutely right when she refers to the 280 greater flexibility which local management of budgets will allow when implemented in our schools. That will free resources, and the deployment of those resources is very much a matter for local education authorities. In that respect I am in agreement with my noble friend.

§ Lord Peston
My Lords,—

Noble Lords
Next Question!

§ Lord Peston
My Lords, I beg your pardon. Occasionally I am allowed to ask a question. Will the noble Baroness think again about the answer that she has just given? Is it not the case that, in introducing local management of schools, the Government have to agree the formulae which local education authorities use in that management? Therefore, is it not the case that the Government have at least a modicum of leverage in accepting only formulae which will pay specific attention to children with special needs? Perhaps I may add that I regard that point as non-political; it concerns children with special needs, not politics.

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, the noble Lord makes an important point which is entirely apolitical. When formulae are presented to government for approval, it is a requirement to take into account the special needs of children. He is therefore absolutely right. The Government will have a view about how local education authorities provide that service; so too will the local education authorities when individual schools exercise local management of their budgets. I look forward to the day when special schools enjoy that facility to have some control over their own budgets.

§ Lord Monkswell
My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that in the city of Manchester an estimated £30 million is required for capital expenditure to ensure adequate provision of educational establishments? Is she further aware that the Government have allocated about one-tenth of that amount—less than £3 million—for capital expenditure on our educational establishments? Given the introduction of local management of schools, there is grave concern about the provision for special educational needs. Will the Government look into that matter and where necessary make extra provision for that important subject?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, the Government have made extra provision. It is up to Manchester to improve its management of the resources that it has to deploy. The Government are concerned about that issue, as can be seen in most of the answers that I have given to previous questions.