§ Mr. Rod RichardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will set up a tribunal to consider appeals relating to educational provision for children with special needs in Wales.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsI am pleased to announce that I am today issuing in Wales a consultation paper "Special Educational Needs—Access to the System". This sets out our proposals to introduce legislation to give new rights to parents of children with special educational needs, including a tribunal system, and to make improvements to the assessment and statementing procedures.
Our proposals will extend parents' rights over choice of school, reduce the time taken by local education authorities in making assessments and statements, extend parents' rights to appeal and make those rights more coherent and establish an independent appeals tribunal to replace the present complex arrangements. We shall also be issuing further guidance for local education authorities on the criteria to be used for making assessments and issuing statements.
I am arranging for a copy of the consultation paper to be placed in the Library of the House.