In a debate on children with Down's syndrome in the House of Commons last week, Hodge admitted she was worried by assertions that some local education authorities were designating some mainstream schools as not appropriate for children with moderate learning difficulties. She promised to examine the situation, saying this was certainly not the intention of ministers.
Jim Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton, said: "Even when schools are willing to accept the children, the local authority can override that and make provision in another area where it has designated provision. Often, that designation is based purely on cost."
He called on local education authorities to be more open about what they were doing with their special educational needs budgets.
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