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Special Educational Needs (Information) Bill

I understand the hon. Lady’s point, and I have heard that argument made in particular by people with a teaching background. I accept that that may be the case, but the available data overwhelmingly suggest that a great many—the Select Committee report suggests the vast majority—of children, including those with particular needs, would benefit from having synthetic phonics as a basis on which to learn how to read. I appreciate that she has far more practical experience than I do in this subject, and she makes a good point that no one methodology can be the only solution. We always need to have a number of ways of dealing with any problem. No debate on SEN would be complete without reference to the role of statementing. The hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West spoke movingly about the impact of delayed statementing, and the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole talked about parents’ worries about the independence of assessments of their children’s special educational needs. She spoke about local authorities’ role as a poacher turned gamekeeper in this complex area. Perhaps the Bill should monitor the time taken to put a statement in place, as that would put a little more pressure on reform of this important area. The biggest catalyst for change in SEN would be a complete reform of the statementing system—a point made by the Education and Skills Committee in July 2006. The hon. Member for Huddersfield, the Chairman of that Committee, is not in the Chamber, but I hope that he does not mind my recalling some of the comments that he made at the time. The Committee called for a ““completely fresh”” approach to SEN, and the Chairman felt strongly that"““the Government’s failure to even consider to changing the current statementing process is a real missed opportunity””," despite the fact that there was"““clear evidence that the process is not working””." The Government argued that there was no better alternative, but the Opposition do not believe that that is the case. In July 2005, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) established the commission on special educational needs under the chairmanship of Sir Robert Balchin. Its findings were announced in November 2005, and highlighted serious concerns about the processes and consequences of statementing, which were echoed by the Select Committee. The report recommended that statements be replaced by a special needs profile, which should be drawn up by an independent, accredited profile assessor. It said that funding should come from a national funding agency, removing the unnecessarily adversarial appeals system and the apparent conflict of interest for local authorities, which are required to act as both assessors and budget providers. Perhaps the Minister would comment in his response on what consideration has been given to the work of that important commission and the reform of statementing, which is vital to achieve the aim of his hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West of delivering genuine improvement, especially as that approach has received support from his hon. Friends including, tangentially, the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) and the hon. Member for Huddersfield, who raised the matter in his Select Committee. In conclusion, may I reiterate my congratulations to the hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West? She said that she wanted the Bill to push things forward for children with special educational needs. We share that aim, and look forward to working with her in Committee to make sure that this is the Bill that she believes it should be.