Hansard

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the draft code. I will say a few words to inform the committee on three issues: how the code fits with the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and associated regulations; how the draft code was developed; and what the next steps are in implementing the act.As you mentioned, the act requires ministers to publish the code of practice to give education authorities and appropriate agencies guidance on how they carry out what is required of them under the act. By its nature, the code is primarily a working document that is aimed at professionals and practitioners who have duties under the act. We hope that the guidance that the code sets out is clear, but we recognise that many parents will have an interest in what the code says. We hope that they will find the code reasonably accessible, but we are working with Enquire, the national information and advice service on additional support needs, to produce a shorter, more user-friendly guide that can be used by parents and young people, or indeed professionals and practitioners.The code has to cover issues such as the circumstances and factors that give rise to children and young people having additional support, how those needs are identified, and the nature of the provision that is made to meet those needs. As you will have seen, the code provides guidance on those and other issues, and highlights the central feature of the act, which is that it places a general duty on education authorities to provide school education to the benefit of all children who require additional support for their learning. The code reinforces the act's focus on the provision that is required by children as individuals.In addition to the code, the act is supported by a series of orders and sets of regulations—10 in all—that are all subject to the negative procedure. I know that officials met the committee on 20 April to discuss the regulations for the appointment of the tribunal president and other appointments. We have now laid a further four sets of regulations, including those on co-ordinated support plans, which I understand officials will discuss with the committee on 1 June. You will receive shortly an order on naming further appropriate agencies and draft regulations on dispute resolution. We have also recently gone out to consultation on a further three sets of regulations and rules. Those draft regulations on placing requests, on tribunal rules and procedures and on transitional arrangements for children and young people who have a record of needs will come to the committee in due course, probably in September.However, this morning, we are focusing on the code. When we began to develop the code of practice, we had several messages in mind. We were well aware of the importance that committee members placed on it, and the committee's close scrutiny of the bill highlighted quite a number of areas that the code would need to address, particularly guidance on factors that give rise to additional support needs, application of criteria for preparing a co-ordinated support plan and links between planning processes.In developing the code, we received help and support from a wide range of people and interests. For example, we received input from a multi-agency advisory group that included parental and professional interests; the services of a multi-agency team of development officers who were on secondment from education, health and social work; and support from a range of stakeholders across the area of additional support needs. At this point, I record my thanks and the thanks of other ministers to all the parties that participated.The code is the product of the wisdom of a number of people, including parents and practitioners. The advisory group suggested that, in drawing up the code and supporting material, we should take account of some key principles such as aiming to develop the code of practice jointly with stakeholders; seeking to build on existing good practice and developing arrangements that would fit the needs of families and service providers; and developing materials on a multi-professional basis and in user-friendly formats.As soon as the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 received royal assent on 7 May last year, we held as a first step a series of five regional seminars, which were attended by about 250 parents and professionals, to discuss what they wanted the code to cover. Their suggestions helped our development officers to produce a first draft of the code of practice, which was discussed and revised by our advisory group last September. Those discussions led to the version of the code that I launched at the meeting of local implementation officers from local authorities and health agencies on 25 November.Members will recall that the consultation on the initial draft code ran until the end of February and will have seen the report on the consultation exercise that I sent to them last week. However, I want briefly to highlight the extensive nature of the consultation that has helped to inform the draft code.With Children in Scotland, we held 14 consultation events across Scotland from Orkney to Dumfries. The events were very well received; indeed, almost three quarters of those who attended rated them as excellent or very satisfactory. More important, we received many suggestions for improving and strengthening the draft code, which were reinforced by the 436 written responses that we received and by very helpful feedback from an extensive range of meetings that were attended by development and policy officers.At stage 3 of the passage of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill, I indicated that the code would offer clear guidance to education authorities and other agencies with the aim of promoting good practice throughout Scotland. I believe that the code offers such guidance. We have tried to provide a degree of direction on what authorities and agencies must do to meet their requirements under the act. As a result, the code and its associated regulations set out specific timetables for preparing a co-ordinated support plan, responding to parents' requests, dealing with references to dispute resolution arrangements and so on. At the same time, we have allowed for a degree of flexibility, as decisions on what is best for every child or young person can be decided only in the light of individual circumstances. The code also contains some examples of good practice.Although we need to ensure that the code of practice provides direction and guidance, we should also ensure that it is not drawn so tightly that it inhibits the development of good practice. Importantly, such an approach will allow for any future policy developments, such as emerging work on a unified approach to children's services, that will have implications for how professionals from local authorities and other agencies work together.Members will also know about our work on the integrated assessment framework. In that respect, we believe that the code will develop over a number of years.I hope that my comments demonstrate that the draft code has been shaped by the views of a wide range of interests. We hope to publish its final version in late August when schools return after the summer break. The multi-agency training materials that we are developing will be available at the same time. We are well on track with arrangements for setting up the additional support needs tribunal and expect that to be in place in November.We know from information provided by implementation officers throughout Scotland that an awful lot of good work is going on locally in preparation for the implementation of the act. I quite understand that clear advance notice of the commencement date for the act will be helpful to all those engaged in planning for the move to the new legislative framework. Therefore, I am happy to announce that, subject to consideration of Parliament's views on the draft code and clearance of associated regulations and continued progress on the tribunal, the act will commence on 14 November.I hope that that brief introduction was helpful to the committee. I look forward to hearing your views on the draft code and trying to answer any questions that you have.