PARENTS will find it easier to choose a school for children with additional support needs, under a proposed change to the law.
Changes to the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act would give Scottish local authorities less power to reject a pupil from a neighbouring authority.
Under amendments to the act, councils would only be able to refuse to take a child w
ith additional learning needs on certain grounds.
They could only deny a child a place if the chosen school was at capacity, if it would be inappropriate for the child, or it would have a detrimental effect on children at the school.
Fiona Hyslop, education secretary, said the proposals would strengthen the rights of children with additional support needs.
She said: "I believe that the act introduced by the last government needs strengthened and the proposals we have brought forward today will identify and help more children who need it."
However, councils are likely to balk at the prospect of being forced to pay for children whose parents pay council tax elsewhere.
John Stodter, general secretary of the Association of Directors of Education, said: "We need clarity about the funding."
He added: "We have to act in the best interest of children, not argue about who gets in where and who is going to pay for it."
The Scottish Government changes also propose new grounds for appeal for parents where an authority refuses to recognise a request for a support plan for a child.
The government will also take action against local authorities which fail to make decisions within 16 weeks.
Children in Scotland, supported by the Scottish Government, will host a series of consultation events throughout Scotland next month.
The full article contains 293 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
