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Education and Inspections Bill

I shall speak to Amendments Nos. 216 and 219 in this group, standing in my name and those of other noble Lords. I start by thanking SEC, the consortium of voluntary organisations, which is concerned with children with SEN and disabilities. It has provided some of us with excellent briefings. I also declare as an interest the fact that I work with ICAN, the charity that deals with children who have communication disabilities. These amendments would ensure that when the governing body of a school delegates responsibility for a school’s behaviour policy, it has to assure itself that those to whom it delegates that responsibility have training on SEN and disability legislation. About 760,000 children in primary schools have SEN. Of those, 67,000 have a statement and therefore just under 700,000 do not. About 550,000 pupils in secondary schools have SEN. Of those, about 76,500 have a statement and therefore just under 475,000 do not. There are approximately 772,000 disabled children under the age of 16. Some disabled children may not have SEN—for example, children with a medical condition—and there may be some children whose SEN does not amount to a disability. These amendments are based on, among other things, the Audit Commission report of 2002, Special Educational Needs: a mainstream issue, which was very clear about the over-representation of pupils with SEN in exclusions. We should also consider the punishments that led to those exclusions, and I wish to say a word about my personal experience in that regard in a moment. The analysis of the data for the report provided by 22 LEAs suggested that children with SEN, including those without statements, account for the vast majority of permanent exclusions—almost nine out of 10 from primary schools and six out of 10 from secondary schools. Behind those figures is a significant number of further exclusions. Many pupils are informally or unofficially excluded from school, and that deprives the children of their education and the parents of access to redress. Exclusions disproportionately affect pupils whose special educational needs impact on their behaviour. However, any learning need, if unrecognised or unmet, can lead to behavioural difficulties which, if not properly managed, may lead to exclusion. I am particularly concerned that the Government’s drive for better discipline in schools, with which I agree, means that some children with special needs are being subjected to punishment regimes which may not be appropriate. A young man of my close acquaintance who has special needs and behavioural challenges found himself at the start of his secondary education, at the age of 11, in a kind of spiral of punishment. He was subject to a regime which involved what was called ““internal exclusion”” within the school. He was put into a cubicle within a room with no natural light for a whole day with a teacher or someone in attendance. There was no window and therefore no view outside. He was only allowed to the toilet accompanied, and he had to remain in silence. He was expected to get on with his work under those conditions. This was a pupil who needed support to learn. He was brought a sandwich and a drink at lunchtime but was not allowed outside to join his fellow pupils. He was subject to that day after day. Not surprisingly, his behaviour deteriorated. He was traumatised and, on one occasion, he came out of this regime having written graffiti on himself with a pen from his wrist to his shoulder. It was a form of self-mutilation and a sign of how he reacted to his treatment. I am very pleased to say that this young man has been moved from that school to one which is working very hard to keep him in school and is meeting his learning needs. I looked at the governors’ code of practice and disciplinary code for that school, as I thought that the young man’s punishment was inappropriate and must have contravened his human rights. However, the school governors, led by the head teacher, were permitted to act in that way. The punishment was completely inappropriate for such a child, and hewas not alone; a cohort of young men in the school was subjected to that regime. It was not working; it was counter-productive. The school was on its way to producing a group of 13, 14 and 15 year-olds who are now permanently excluded from school and are probably wreaking mayhem in the neighbourhood around it. The amendments would ensure that those drawing up the guidelines and rules are qualified to do so and understand the needs of children with disabilities who have special educational needs. I understand that this part of the Bill is based on the Steer report. While many of the organisations to which I have referred welcome many aspects of that report, particularly the emphasis on teaching and learning, it has limitations. I should like to hear my noble friend’s comments on that. It explicitly sets aside the consideration of pupils with special educational needs—the Committeedid not consider disabled pupils. It emphasises throughout the need for a consistent behaviour policy. We need reassurance from the Government that the needs of these children will be taken into account, and that more robust safeguards will be written into the Bill. The guidelines that flow from it must take account of the needs of children with disabilities and special educational needs.