News Release

7th March 2005

CLOSURES OF SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS

"The immediate halt announced by the Conservatives of both the closure of special needs schools and the automatic presumption of placing special needs children in main steam schools will be a great relief to parents in Staffordshire" says Michael Fabricant. "Staffordshire County Council and councils across the west midlands have had to announce the restructuring and closure of special needs schools to meet Government objectives. And both children and parents at schools like Queens Croft in Lichfield have expressed their alarm at having their children being forced to enter mainstream schools and face bullying and other difficulties. The proposals announced today, 7th March, will put an end to that.

"And too many parents have had to face too many sacrifices to send their dyslexic children, for example, to excellent schools like Maple Hayes in Lichfield which enjoys a national reputation. These reforms will address that problem. The first actions of a Conservative Government will be to improve the choice of school for parents; end the presumption in favour of mainstream schools for SEN children; provide better information and guidance for parents and teachers; and impose a moratorium on the closure of special schools.

"Special educational needs is a difficult and complex area and I recognise there is no quick fix or simple solution to the problems of SEN today. SEN covers a wide and growing range of conditions. In 1981, when the Education Act was passed setting up the current system, autism and dyslexia were barely known. Today, we recognise these conditions and the importance of Emotional, Behavioural and Social Difficulties.

"The steps that were set out today will go some way towards easing the problems that parents face, but the next Conservative Government will understand the scale of the challenge, and we know that there will be other issues to address too" adds Michael.