Education and Inspections Bill

I support Amendments Nos. 6 and 9. In listening to the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, I remembered how extraordinarily complex this issue is. While I do not necessarily agree with the implications of some of his comments, I hope that through discussion of this Bill we give some thought to implementation as well as the principles of fairness and access. I am acutely aware that while I stand here and we discuss access and the needs of such a wide range of children and abilities, there are large numbers of youngsters who simply cannot get a statement. They are excluded from getting what now they should have by right by a series of different interpretations of varying guidelines. I hope that in the course of the Bill’s passage we not only think about what we aspire to, but work towards what we should already have on the ground.