North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called for assurances from the Welsh Government that children with long-term health conditions, such as diabetes, will be guaranteed the support they need in school.
Mr Isherwood is concerned that the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill still does not guarantee any support.
This week he raised the matter in the Assembly with the Minister for Lifelong Learning, Alun Davies AM, following the Minister's publication of revised guidance to support learners with healthcare needs.
He said:
“How do you respond to concern expressed by Diabetes UK and their partners that the guidance, although welcome, doesn’t go far enough in clarifying the situation, that although there are several references or statements that will result in long-term medical conditions being under the additional learning needs framework, the Welsh Government still doesn’t support the amendment of the Additional Learning Needs (ALN) and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill and code to reflect this, that the document still doesn’t guarantee any support and makes it very clear that the provision of support is voluntary, and that basic requirements, such as having an individual plan in place, are not guaranteed by the guidance?”
The Minister said amendments to the Bill have not been ruled out.
“We’ve not reached the stage of consideration of any amendments to this Bill at this point. The statutory guidance to which the Member refers has been subjected to specific scrutiny from this committee. I look forward to hearing what the conclusions of that scrutiny are, and I will certainly respond to the committee’s report on this matter, and I'm very open to giving full and due consideration to all suggestions and proposals that will come from the committee at the appropriate stage, Stage 2, when we reach that stage in June.”
Mr Isherwood added: “Historically, Special Educational Needs (SEN) funding in Wales has been used for medical conditions support in schools. As medical conditions are not currently included in the proposed ALN reforms, there is a real risk that this funding will be removed and will not be replaced or reallocated to medical conditions support.
“The Welsh Government has not to date accepted the need to amend their Additional Learning Needs Bill to reflect these concerns and I hope that the Minister’s comments mean that there will be better news ahead for children requiring support for medical conditions in school.”