The Committee wants to hear about

• the diversity of provision across Scotland in special needs education
• the effectiveness of current integration strategies at all levels of pre school and school education
• the effectiveness of transition arrangements for special needs pupils at each stage in the school education system
• how well the requirements of special needs families are understood and how far education services cope with these often diverse needs

Speaking soon after the committee meeting, Convener Mary Mulligan said:

"Special educational needs provision merits our close scrutiny and I am pleased it will be our first major inquiry. It is clearly vital that provision across the country for children with these needs is well planned and co-ordinated, properly funded, sensitive to local requirements and taken seriously by all agencies involved.

"We hope to hear from everyone with an interest in the subject – including both providers and consumers - on what they feel about current arrangements. There have been a number of policy initiatives in recent months – the committee wants to understand what these mean for families on the ground and what further assistance or support they may need."

The Committee acknowledged the importance of recent policy initiatives including the Riddell and Beattie reports and agreed that this was an appropriate time to take a broader look at the implementation of policy in the whole area of special educational needs.

BACKGROUND NOTE

The committee would welcome submissions of written evidence from organisations or individuals by March 3, 2000. It will then consider which parties to invite to give oral evidence. The inquiry is expected to be completed by the summer.

Evidence should be as concise as possible and where appropriate, explain the interest or expertise of the person or organisation making the submission. The committee welcomes both factual information and recommendations for action which it can consider.

Submissions can be sent either by post to:

Alistair Fleming
Assistant Clerk to the Education, Culture & Sport Committee
Scottish Parliament, Room 2.7
Committee Chambers
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH 99 1SP

or by email to: education@scottish.parliament.uk

Submissions by email in a ‘Word’ compatible format are particularly appreciated but where this is not possible, written submissions are quite acceptable.

The committee’s full membership is as follows:

Convener: Mary Mulligan (Lab). Karen Gillon (Lab), Ian Jenkins (LD), Kenneth MacIntosh (Lab), Fiona McLeod (SNP), Brian Monteith (Con), Cathy Peattie (Lab), Michael Russell (SNP), Jamie Stone (LD), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ian Welsh (Lab).