§ Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if a child who is assessed as having special educational needs which are best met in a mainstream maintained school will be permitted to attend such a school; and if the LEA will have a duty to find a school place for that child. [81052]
§ Mr. Stephen Twigg[holding answer 18 November 2002]If no statement is maintained for a child, they must be educated in a mainstream school. Children with statements of special educational needs should also be taught in a mainstream school and the LEA should find a place for them where parents wish it, and it is not incompatible with the efficient education of other children. This will also apply to accommodation centre residents who subsequently remain in this country after leaving the centre. For children and their parents who are resident in an accommodation centre, local education authorities will be able to disapply the relevant provisions of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to name a mainstream school in a child's statement, having carried out a statutory assessment of a child's special educational needs, if they consider that the accommodation centre or a special school will not be able to meet the child's needs. We would, however, expect local education authorities to take this course of action only rarely, and the great majority of children will have their special educational needs met appropriately in the accommodation centres.
§ Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what education a child with special educational needs who is living in an accommodation centre will receive while their assessment is in the process of being completed. [81069]
§ Mr. Stephen Twigg[holding answer 18 November 2002]Children with special educational needs will continue to receive education in accommodation centres while they are being assessed. Education provided within the accommodation centres will have the same broad range and be of equivalent quality to that provided in mainstream schools, including support through School Action and School Action Plus under the Special needs Code of Practice.