News

The Conservative Party has formed a new commission to review the provision for special needs in the British education system, writes Lindsay Clark.

Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron said the Special Needs Commission would "do what the Government's audit should do, but does not" and look into the whole spectrum of special needs provision.

"This is not some new quango with woolly intentions and unclear purposes. The committee has one purpose, and one purpose only - to find out what provision we really need to make in the world of special educational needs."

The commission will be chaired by Sir Robert Balchin, deputy chairman of Goldsmith College.

The Conservatives had repeatedly requested the government to investigate SEN provision, Cameron said, but these requests were ignored.

"There has been a huge growth in the number of children diagnosed with Special Needs. For example, our better understanding of autism has shown that, rather than five in every 10,000 children having autism, as was thought in 1980, the true number is 60 in every 10,000. But provision has not kept up with diagnoses."

Parents found the statementing process too bureaucratic and too adversarial, he added.

The Commission will present its interim findings in the late autumn, the Conservatives said.