My Lords, we support all these amendments. In speaking to Amendments 88A and 88B, I simply echo the remarks of my noble friend Lady Hughes of Stretford. This would be a very important addition to the Bill. As regards the other amendments, we welcome the commitment to ensure that academies and maintained schools are held to the same standards of educational achievement for relevant children, and the requirement to consult upon, and publish, a local care offer for care leavers. This would allow best practice to be shared throughout the sector and ensure full accountability and informed choices for children and young people.
The post of designated lead for looked-after children already exists in all schools, so the extension to previously looked-after children is welcome, but in reality these duties in a school are often overlaid on top of existing responsibilities. For instance, the duty regarding looked-after children is often added to the SEN co-ordinator’s role or to that of a senior manager. Therefore, the implications could be significant in terms of time allocation for the member of staff concerned.
We also believe that academy trusts should be required to designate a lead person, and that somebody at a senior level should be involved, such as an executive
member within the trust. An individual member of staff may be the designated staff member, but he or she should report to someone at executive level to ensure that the executive member assumes ultimate responsibility for the interests of looked-after and previously looked-after children, and that the designated staff member is allocated the requisite time and resources to do his or her job properly.
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In the debate on Monday on Amendment 77, I referred to the need for adequate time and resources to be made available, and the Minister assured me that that would be the case in respect of virtual head teachers. The same arguments apply here, and I hope I will receive the same assurances. The noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, focused on the importance of ensuring that children receive the speech and language therapy support they require, and we wholeheartedly support that aim. This is particularly important as communication underpins literacy, and good communication skills are essential to academic attainment.
In a wider sense, it is essential that those who take on responsibilities for promoting the educational achievement of looked-after and previously looked-after children and young people are trained in awareness of the various needs those children may have, whether speech, language and communication, autism or physical disabilities. Whatever a child’s needs, it is the duty of the local authority to ensure that those needs are met. Clearly, no single person can cover any more than one of those needs in full, so there must be collaboration with neighbouring schools where necessary to ensure adequate provision. The child’s needs are paramount, and that must always be so.