---

Special Educational Needs

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. From my experience of considering such issues and their wider politics, local authorities can be held to account for systems and structures in their locality. If he has an idea or a structure that the Government should consider, I shall welcome a letter from him. I am sure that he will consider that. It is worth remembering that only 0.25 per cent. of cases end up going to appeal. The hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole mentioned that it is very expensive to reach the appeal stage in the first place. However, it is important to put that idea to bed: it does not cost anything to reach that stage. The idea that one must have lawyers and pay them thousands of pounds to go through that system is untrue. Eighty per cent. of people who go through the tribunal process are successful, but the vast majority choose not to do so. The wider context is that two thirds of statemented children go to mainstream schools, and that is where we must place the debate. The difficulties, stresses and strains for parents during the six-month period have been mentioned. The draft assessment period to which the performance indicator now relates is 18 weeks, and in 92 per cent. of cases it seems to have made a real difference. We are also considering introducing a performance indicator for the 26-week period during which a full statement is produced.