Children and families bill offers councils get-out clause over ill pupils' education

The Children, Schools and Families Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, includes a section exempting local authorities from providing such children with full-time education where "impracticable" or "inappropriate".

Amanda Batten, head of external affairs at the NAS, said the clause could equate to a "get out of jail free card" for councils.

"We're worried that if local authorities find it expensive to provide for ill and excluded children they could say the cost of services makes it impracticable to do so," she explained.

Batten added that the bill should not make local authorities solely responsible for assessing the needs of ill and excluded children.

"We think there's a conflict of interest there," she said. "We want there to be independent assessments."

She claimed children with the most severe needs, who may need to be educated outside their home authority, would be worst affected by the clause.

The NAS is due to outline its concerns to the public bill committee today (19 January).

The Local Government Association is also set to discuss the bill's shortcomings, outlining fears over extending the powers of the Secretary of State to intervene in failing schools or youth offending teams.