Currently, these children are too often passed between agencies who argue about who is responsible for providing a service. The minister for children, Sarah Teather, recently described the situation families face as being like "piggy in the middle". This was recognised in the recent green paper on SEN and disability, the central theme of which is the development of an integrated education, health and care plan.
Schools will need to be key partners in the process if education, health and care plans are to be a success. This is why the Special Educational Consortium (SEC) is so disappointed that the Education Bill, now being debated in the House of Lords, proposes to remove the duty for schools to co-operate with children's trust arrangements. Including schools as relevant partners not only requires schools to co-operate, but also ensures their participation is actively pursued by the local authority. The SEC believes that for the government to send a message that schools do not necessarily need to be involved in strategic planning at a time when greater co-ordination is being promoted by the green paper is counter-productive.
The SEC does not believe that a general duty to co-operate is a bureaucratic burden on schools or an overly prescriptive approach to partnership working. Retaining the duty to co-operate would send out a powerful message about the government's commitment to partnership working - an intention that is actively promoted in the SEN and disability green paper - and would be a safeguard for when things go wrong.
Matthew Dodd, senior policy and development officer, Council for Disabled Children.
