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Special Educational Needs

: I see that my hon. Friend really does think that ideology and money drive everything, and perhaps there is a grain of truth in what he says. The point that I need to make is that we do not intend to close special schools. That sometimes happens in school reorganisations, but the law is clear that local authorities must have regard to the needs of special needs pupils and make sure that there is sufficient provision to meet those needs. How that is done will change over time and that is why some of these things occur. Before I run out of time, I want to respond to one or two of the points made by the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire. She suggested that the schools White Paper and the increasing choice agenda in schools would mean that children with special educational needs in particular would be disadvantaged. She also said that disabled children were being excluded on grounds of disruption or whatever. I do not deny that that happens sometimes; in individual cases, it does. However, under the duties in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which were extended to include schools under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, it is not—