Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part. I have not quite finished with this. The Rose report said, as the noble Baroness implied, that, ""blanket screening for dyslexia of all children on entry to school is questionable, not least because screening tests for this purpose are as yet unreliable"." Can she confirm that the reason why he said that is that there is no agreement within what I would call the dyslexia community as to which of a series of tests is the best and most reliable? Could she give an undertaking that the Government will fund urgent research in order to develop a test that is reliable? I believe that they exist because they are used in certain places. Indeed, I am sorry that my ally, the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, is not here because he knows a great deal about where it is being done in a youth detention centre in Northern Ireland. It is not proving to be too expensive, as we were told on the last Bill, and I hope that the noble Baroness has noticed that I have reduced my interventions from three to two in anticipation of her claim that it would be very expensive, which is what she said the last time around. I shall pursue this question for as long as it is necessary. The Government have to put their shoulder to the wheel on this and get a reliable test in position. In the end, it will save money. I do not suppose that the 4,000 new teachers due to come along will all arrive in one year, although it would be a good thing if they did. How long will they take to get into place? Is it intended to stop the process of training them when they have arrived? In that case, along with the noble Lord, Lord Addington, I feel that that will be inadequate. It is a good start, but more than 4,000 will be needed in order to provide a significant presence in all our schools. My own view, as I expressed before, is that you do not have to have a diagnostic specialist in every school, but you need someone who can select those pupils who are most likely to need a diagnosis. A sufficient level of skill is required in every school to ensure that a child who is at risk of one of these conditions is referred to a more expensive expert who will be able to make the identification. I hope that eventually we shall have a training module on every teacher training course to cover the rudiments of identification, but for the vast number of teachers already in service I hope that we shall have a corresponding inset course so that they, too, can become qualified. I shall consider with great care what has been said and I can promise to come back on Report with a modified version of the amendment, if only to get my ally the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, on to the stage to deliver his expertise. I repeat my thanks to others who have contributed to the debate and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 113A withdrawn. Clause 46 agreed.