Jim
Knight: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second
time.
The
Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the
following: Government
new clause 28—Procedure for giving directions under section
96 of SSFA
1998. Government
new clause 29—Directions to admit child to specified school:
supplementary
provisions. Government
new clause 30—Looked after children to whom section 87(2) of
SSFA 1998 applies: references to
adjudicator. Government
new clause 31—Provision of advice by
adjudicator. Government
new clause 33—Power of assembly to make regulations about
admission of looked after
children. Government
amendment No.
328. Government
amendment No.
358.
Jim
Knight: These amendments complement existing provision in
the School Standards and Framework Act, requiring local authorities in
the normal admission round to give first priority for school places to
looked-after children. They follow a commitment made on Second Reading.
New clause 27 amends section 97 of the 1998 Act to give local
authorities the power to direct an admission authority to admit a child
it is looking after to the school best suited to meet their needs when
the need for a place arises at any time during the school
year. Looked-after
children are among the most vulnerable in our society. As a group they
tend to have low levels of educational attainment compared with their
peers. Only 9 per cent. gained five good GCSEs in 2004 compared with 54
per cent of all children, and a relatively small number, just 5 per
cent, go on to higher education compared with almost one third of all
19-year-olds. We know
from the social exclusion unit’s report, “A better
education for children in care”, that one reason looked-after
children underachieve in education is that their lives are
characterised by instability and they spend too much time out of
school. We also know that looked-after children move schools more often
than other children as a result of frequent changes of placement. As a
consequence, they are more likely to attend schools that are not
equipped to meet their needs, or in some cases they are not able to
obtain a school place at all.
That is why we are giving local
authorities in their role as corporate parent the power to direct any
admission authority for a maintained school in England to admit a
looked-after child even where the school is already full. This will
ensure that looked-after children are always admitted to the school
that can best meet their needs.
I turn to new clause 28. Under
section 97 of the 1998 Act, a governing body of a school that has been
directed to admit a child by the local authority under section 96 may
refer that direction to the Secretary of State, who may determine
whether the school must admit the child or not. The amendment amends
section 97 so that in future all such referrals will be made to the
schools adjudicator in England and the National Assembly in Wales. Such
referrals will be allowed only on the grounds that the admission of the
child would seriously prejudice the provision of efficient education or
the efficient use of resources. The adjudicator could agree the
direction or decide that another school should admit the child having
consulted that school. It is imperative that suitable school places are
found for those vulnerable children as soon as possible, which is why
the new clause provides a mechanism for such a speedy decision to be
made about a suitable alternative school if the adjudicator overturns a
direction. New clause
29 makes some consequential amendments to section 96 of the 1998 Act to
take account of the changes to the responsibilities for deciding
referrals about section 96 directions. It also amends section 94 of
that Act to prevent parents appealing against a direction to place a
looked-after child and makes provision for regulations to be made
requiring the adjudicator to consult prescribed persons before making a
direction using those powers. Regulations may also require admission
authorities to provide information requested by the
adjudicator. New
clause 30 amends the 1998 Act to deal with looked-after children for
whom section 87 of that Act applies: those children who have been
excluded from two or more schools. Section 95 of the Act provides that
a local authority—that is, the admission authority for a
school—must allow the governing body of the school a right of
appeal against its decision to admit a child who has been twice
excluded. The new clause removes that requirement in the case of
looked-after children and provides that the governing body may instead
refer the matter to the schools adjudicator who may either uphold or
overturn the direction and name another school.
New clause 31 amends section 25
of the 1998 Act, providing a general power for the Secretary of State
to seek advice from the adjudicator on the admission of children to
schools. This will mean that in addition to advice in relation to
looked-after children the adjudicator will provide advice on matters
relating to the admission of children to schools as specified by the
Secretary of State. It provides for greater consistency as all
referrals about directions will be considered by the adjudicator and
will help to reduce the casework burden on the Department.
New clause 33 provides the
National Assembly for Wales with the power to make regulations relating
to the admission of looked-after children. The amendments complement
the procedures in England
but recognise that the Assembly should decide for Wales whether and how
they should be implemented there. It is a wide-ranging regulation power
giving what we think is sufficient scope for the National Assembly to
decide for itself what procedures it wishes to adopt.
11.45
am As a group,
looked-after children have complex needs, which is why we are committed
to improving outcomes for them. The Children Act 2004 placed a specific
duty on local authorities to promote the educational achievements of
looked-after children. The Bill will complement that duty and ensure
that looked-after children are found suitable school places as quickly
as possible. Amendment
No. 328 is consequential. Amendment No. 358 adds to clause 164 and has
the effect of giving the National Assembly the power to make its
regulations two months following the passing of the Bill. For the
reasons I have set out, I hope that that the Committee will support the
amendments. Annette
Brooke (Mid-Dorset and North Poole) (LD): I welcome my near
neighbour to his new position this morning, and hopefully for a long
time to come. I welcome the new clauses even though we know that
looked-after children grow up and can succeed against all the
odds—there are some remarkable stories. But why should this
group of young people have to fight the odds all the way through their
lives? I hope that this relatively small measure will make a big
difference. The statistics on the outcomes and life chances for this
group of people which we, collectively, have let down over a long
period are well known and do not need to be rehearsed yet
again. I have a
specific question for the Minister. I had a constituency case involving
adopted children. One cannot time when such children arrive in a
household, and because they arrived after the closing date for
applications the local school five minutes away was full and they could
not get in. They were from a troubled background and needed support.
Perhaps a provision is tucked away in the wording of the amendments,
but would adopted children arriving in June, way after the January
deadline, be able to get into a school that was classified as full with
perhaps 30 in the class already? That is an important point and it is
sequential to the provisions for looked-after
children. I should
also like to place on the record again my special concern for the young
carers of disabled parents, who need access to their nearest school.
They are not quite in the same category, but they are important none
the less. I hope to be able to raise awareness of the particular issues
facing young carers throughout the passage of the
Bill.
The
Chairman: Order. I ought to point out to the Committee
that there will be a debate on young carers at a later stage in the
Bill.
Annette
Brooke: I shall leave my remarks at that, then, Mr.
Cook.
Mr.
Clappison: I am happy to echo the Minister’s
sentiments about the position of looked-after children, which for a
long time has been a great disappointment within our education system.
Coupled with his proposals for directing looked-after children into
schools, would he go as far as to express a strong wish to see an
improvement in the academic and all-round performance of looked-after
children?
Jim
Knight: The hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole
(Annette Brooke) raised an interesting question about adopted children.
My understanding is that they would not technically fall into the
category of children looked after by the local authority. I can check
that out and get back to her, and copy the information to the
Committee. I heard your advice, Mr. Cook, that we will be discussing
young carers at a later date.
To respond to the comment made
by hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison), we are certainly
concerned to ensure that the educational performance of looked-after
children improves. We hope that the proposed measures will go some way
towards achieving that, but they are not by any means the only way in
which we can do so. The whole philosophy of our educational reforms is
to personalise education for every child so that all children,
including looked-after children, can achieve the best possible outcome
for them as individuals. I hope that on that basis that the Committee
will support the
amendments. Question
put and agreed
to. Clause read
a Second time, and added to the
Bill.
New
Clause
28Procedure
for giving directions under section 96 of SSFA
1998 ‘In section 97 of SSFA
1998 (procedure for giving directions under section
96)— (a) in subsection
(2)(b)— (i) for
“the Secretary of State” (in both places where it occurs)
substitute “the appropriate authority”,
and (ii) for “his
determination” substitute “its
determination”, (b) in
subsection (3), for “the Secretary of State” substitute
“the appropriate
authority”, (c) in
subsection (4)— (i) for
“the Secretary of State” substitute “the
appropriate
authority”, (ii) for
“if he does so” substitute “if it does so”,
and (iii) in paragraph (a)(ii)
for “the Secretary of State's” substitute “the
appropriate
authority's”, (d) in
subsection (5) for “The Secretary of State” substitute
“The appropriate authority”,
and (e) after subsection (6)
insert— “(6A) In
this section, “the appropriate authority”
means— (a) in relation
to a local education authority in England, the adjudicator,
and (b) in relation to a local
education authority in Wales, the Assembly.” '.—[Jim
Knight.] Brought
up, read the First and Second time, and added to the
Bill.
New Clause
29Directions
to admit child to specified school: supplementary
provisions ‘(1) In section 94
of SSFA 1998 (appeal arrangements: general), in subsection (1)(a) after
“section 96” insert “or
97A”. (2) In section 96
of SSFA 1998 (direction to admit child to specified
school)— (a) in
subsection (3) for “the Secretary of State” substitute
“the appropriate authority (within the meaning of section
97)”, and (b) in
subsection (8) for “section 97” substitute
“sections 97 to
97C”. (3) After section
97B of SSFA 1998 (inserted by section (Direction to admit looked
after child to specified school))
insert— “97C
Determinations under section 97 or 97B:
supplemental Regulations
may make provision in relation to
England— (a) requiring
the adjudicator to consult prescribed persons or persons of a
prescribed description before making any determination in connection
with a reference under section 97 or
97B; (b) requiring an admission
authority for a school to provide information
which— (i) falls within
a prescribed description,
and (ii) is requested by the
adjudicator for the purposes of any such determination.”
'.—[Jim
Knight.] Brought
up, read the First and Second time, and added to the
Bill.
New
Clause
30Looked
after children to whom section 87(2) of SSFA 1998 applies: references
to adjudicator ‘(1) In
section 95 of SSFA 1998 (appeals relating to children to whom section
87(2) applies) after subsection (2)
insert— “(2A)
Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a decision made by or on
behalf of a local education authority in England to admit to a school a
child who is looked after by a local authority in England (provision
for references to the adjudicator in relation to such a decision being
made by section
95A).” (2) After that
section
insert— “95A
References relating to looked after children to whom section 87(2)
applies (1) This section
applies where— (a) a
local education authority in England are the admission authority for a
community or voluntary controlled school,
and (b) a decision is made by
or on behalf of the authority to admit to the school a child who, at
the time when the decision is made, is looked after by a local
authority in England and to whom (at that time) section 87(2)
applies. (2) The local
education authority must give notice of the decision to the governing
body of the school. (3) The
governing body of the school may, within the period of seven days
beginning with the day on which they are notified of the decision,
refer the matter to the
adjudicator. (4) A reference
under subsection (3) may only be made on the ground that the admission
of the child to the school would seriously prejudice the provision of
efficient education or the efficient use of
resources. (5) If the
adjudicator determines that the admission of the child to the school
would have the effect mentioned in subsection
(4)— (a) the decision to
admit the child to the school shall cease to have effect,
but
(b) the adjudicator may determine that another
maintained school in England is to be required to admit the
child. (6)
A determination under subsection (5)(b) may only be made with the
agreement of the local authority who look after the
child. (7) A determination
under subsection (5)(b) may not be made
if— (a) the child is
permanently excluded from the other school,
or (b) the admission of the
child to the other school would seriously prejudice the provision of
efficient education or the efficient use of
resources. (8) If the
adjudicator determines under subsection (5)(b) that another school is
to be required to admit the
child— (a) the admission
authority for the school shall admit the child to the school,
and (b) if the admission
authority are not the governing body of the school, the admission
authority shall give notice in writing to the governing body and head
teacher of the school of the adjudicator's
decision. (9) Regulations may
make provision— (a)
requiring the adjudicator to consult prescribed persons or persons of a
prescribed description before making any determination in connection
with a reference under this
section; (b) requiring an
admission authority for a maintained school to provide information
which— (i) falls within
a prescribed description,
and (ii) is requested by the
adjudicator for the purposes of any such determination.”
'.—[Jim
Knight.] Brought
up, read the First and Second time, and added to the
Bill.
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