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Education and Skills Bill

I will deal with the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Elton, about who needs to be told what. It is not intended that regulations under Clauses 138 and 139 will require that the pupil or his representative be given information relating to the imposition of the requirement to attend off-site provision or be invited to any review. It is normal practice for all communications from a school about a pupil to go to the parents, especially when the issue concerns the pupil’s behaviour. That applies across education law. Parents have a responsibility to take part in managing their child’s behaviour and that is why it is the parents who are invited to the review. It is very likely that the pupil is made aware of the referral from the school, and virtually inconceivable that they would not be so if they are at an age and capacity where they can understand the reasons for the referral and expected outcomes. The parent—or pupil if aged 18 or over—will be able to participate in any review, which means that they can make representations and express their thoughts, comments or concerns about the placement. In the draft guidance we said that a pupil under the age of 18 should be allowed to attend the review and speak on his or her own behalf if he or she wishes to do so. Governing bodies will be required to have regard to the guidance and I expect schools to use their judgment about whether it is appropriate for the pupil to attend the review meeting. That guidance will be subject to formal consultation after the Bill receives Royal Assent, and I am happy to circulate a draft copy to noble Lords now, if that would be helpful and would elucidate some of the points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Elton. As far as decision-making is concerned, it is not intended that regulations will require the pupil to be part of the decision-making process itself. We expect the governing body to take any comments made by the parent or pupil into consideration when they come to making a decision about whether the off-site education should continue. Governing bodies are bound by law to promote high levels of educational achievement at school and I have confidence that they will be able to come to the right decision when reviewing an off-site referral. I hope that that goes some way to meeting the noble Lord’s concerns. On his point about the actual informing of the young person, what is set out in the Bill is within the normal practice of education law.