Special education code 'climb down'

The code comes under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act

Controversial guidelines governing the level of provision for children with special educational needs have been withdrawn by the government for reconsideration, Conservatives claimed.

The code of conduct - part of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 - was drawn up to identify special needs earlier, to get parents more closely involved and to take into account the views of the children themselves.

The government has left the door open for vague statements to be written about children

Baroness Blatch

But critics condemned the code, saying it would remove the current requirement for the level of help a child needed to be quantified (in a "statement") by the local education authority.

It would then be harder for parents to object to cuts in their child's specialist teaching or therapy, the critics said.

The code, which was always to have been published once the bill had gone through Parliament, was approved by the Commons on Wednesday by 293 votes to 195.

Climb down

Tory peers had threatened to challenge the government in the House of Lords on Thursday and claimed the government had climbed down in the face of opposition to the proposals.

The Department for Education confirmed that it was re-examining one part of the code.

Critics feared the code would cut provision for pupils with special needs

Baroness Blatch, Tory education spokeswoman in the Lords, said the code - as it stood - reneged on every pledge given by the government during the passage of the legislation.

"We can't support the code in its present form because it doesn't put the educational needs of children with special learning difficulties at the heart of the Act, which is what they said they would do.

"The government has left the door open for vague statements to be written about children, which means there will be no guarantee for parents that their children are going to get precisely the provision that they need to meet their educational needs.

"If the authority is feeling mean, the child gets minimum provision," Baroness Blatch said.

Revised draft

The Schools Minister, Baroness Ashton, said the government had listened carefully to the concerns parents and MPs had about the amount of help specified in children's statements of special educational needs.

"We will be revising that guidance to address those concerns - and to ensure that children receive the help they need.

"After making improvements we will place a revised draft before parliament for approval with the aim of bringing it into force on 1 January 2002," she said.

Paddy Tipping, who was sacked as deputy Commons leader in Tony Blair's post-election reshuffle, and ex-defence minister Peter Kilfoyle were among seven Labour MPs who defied the government in Wednesday's vote.