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Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

On behalf of my noble friend Lady Garden, who has added her name to these amendments, I would like to say a few words. From these Benches, we support the amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, and the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, and we agree with and support what the noble Lord has said in his introduction. The earlier the diagnosis of any learning difficulties is made, the more effectively they can be addressed and, hopefully, remedied. Clause 40(3)(b) states that local authorities already must "have regard to" learning difficulties. Amendment 98 would require them to do more than that—to ensure that professional screening had taken place and to follow up with appropriate action. Amendment 101 spells out specific learning difficulties which can, and should, be identified. However, this list must not be regarded as being exclusive. We have the ability these days to identify and to comprehend a wide range of learning difficulties and signs of these can be detected by experts at earlier ages than ever before. In response, a variety of teaching and training methods have been developed by experts to tackle these difficulties, offer solutions and ensure that the child makes progress. How frustrating for any child where he or she is not making progress. There is inevitably a cost associated with this, but any cost is as nothing compared with the cost to the individual of a diminished quality of life if their difficulties are not identified, and also the cost to society, which stands to benefit socially and economically from each individual who is able to participate to their fullest potential. The Youth Justice Board estimates that around 150,000 children and young people under the age of 18 enter the youth justice system each year and that, of those, about 70,000 are of the current compulsory school age of 16 or under. Fifteen per cent of those have statements of special education needs, compared to about 3 per cent of the general population. The Bercow report found that 60 per cent of the 11,000 people in young offender institutions each year have speech, language and communication difficulties. The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, is absolutely right to emphasise the importance of tackling those communication difficulties, which are widespread in the community of young people who find themselves in trouble with the criminal justice system. Earlier diagnosis would have a very positive impact on the social inclusion of these young people. I know that these amendments have the support of the Communication Trust, which has pointed out that there is significant variation across the country for those with hidden difficulties in terms of assessment and referral to specialist services. Putting something like this into this legislation would help to make sure that people benefit from the services that they need in the areas where these things are not being dealt with as well as they are elsewhere.