NDCS Statement on the Macphail ruling on Additional Support for Learning Pupil Placing Requests

Parents may have read reports in the Scottish media about a legal ruling made by the Court of Session in Edinburgh recently regarding placement requests for children who have additional support needs. 

NDCS is concerned by the ruling of the Court of Session, delivered by Lord Macphail on 11th October 2007, which states that there is no provision within the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 for parents of children with additional support needs to make placing requests across local authorities.

We are pleased that solicitors are preparing to appeal this decision at the House of Lords, and we are fully supportive of this appeal.

This issue has also been raised in the Scottish Parliament by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Children and Young People, Jeremy Purvis MSP.  We are delighted with the First Minister’s response to Mr. Purvis’s question, given during First Minister’s Question Time on Thursday 1st November 2007, that the Scottish Government will ensure that parents of children with additional support needs are able to make placing requests to schools outside their own local authority areas.

The First Minister further confirmed that if the House of Lords does uphold the decision of the Court of Session, the Scottish Government will review the 2004 Act to ensure that the legislation covers the original policy intentions.  We will lobby to make sure that this happens.

Parents of deaf children in Scotland frequently make such placing requests to ensure that their children can attend specialist schools for the deaf, or mainstream schools with specialist units or teachers, and NDCS recognise that this preserving this right is crucial to the education of many deaf children in Scotland.

NDCS therefore wants to reassure our membership that we are aware of the situation, and that we will lobby at the highest levels to ensure that parents throughout Scotland who wish their child to attend a school outwith their own local authority area to enable them access the best levels of support can continue to do so.