SNP urged to axe 'overly restrictive conditions' denying thousands of ASN pupils legally-binding care plans

An MSP has tabled a plan that could enable many more Scottish pupils to access legally-binding support plans.

Ross Greer, education spokesman for the Scottish Greens, has written to Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth with a proposal to use an upcoming Bill at Holyrood to amend the rules around coordinated support plans (CSPs).

Councils have a statutory duty to put in place a CSP for youngsters with long-standing additional support needs (ASN) if they are linked to factors requiring significant help from more than one service.

However, The Scotsman reported this week how campaigners are increasingly concerned about a 61 per cent fall in the number of youngsters with a CSP, from 3,128 to just 1,215 children, in the last decade.

The drop has been recorded despite the proportion of pupils in Scotland with ASN having doubled to more than 40 per cent of the entire roll, or 284,448 youngsters.

It means only 0.4 per cent of those identified with ASN in Scotland now have a CSP.

Ross Greer | National World

In his letter, Mr Greer said: “Whilst a CSP is clearly not required by every young person with an additional support need, it is abundantly clear that they are massively underutilised and many more pupils would benefit from having one in place.

“The primary reason for this appears to be the reluctance of local authorities to commit to a resource-intensive form of support.

“Putting the question of council finances aside though, there is also a significant barrier resulting from the wording of the relevant provisions in the Education (Additional Support Needs) (Scotland) 2004 Act.”

Mr Greer said the Act sets out “overly restrictive conditions for the provision of a CSP” which are “frankly no longer compatible with the realities of ASN in schools”.

He believed this could be resolved through the upcoming Learning Disability, Autism, and Neurodivergence Bill, with criteria for CSP eligibility being moved out of primary legislation and set through regulation going forward, allowing for “greater flexibility and adaptability”.

Mr Greer said: "Coordinated support plans are a great idea in theory, but in reality, it is vanishingly rare for a child with additional support needs to actually get one.

“That's mostly down to councils wanting to avoid the costs of delivering that support, but the underpinning legislation is also creating problems.

"The ways in which we support school pupils have changed hugely in the two decades since that law was written. Quite frankly though, it was far too specific in the first place.

“The criteria a child needs to meet to receive a coordinated support plan are too high and are much harder to meet than they were in 2004.

“That's why I'm urging the Scottish Government to update the criteria. This would give far more children a realistic chance of receiving a plan and, more importantly, the additional support they need to make their time at school a success.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Education Secretary will respond to Mr Greer’s letter in due course.

“All children and young people should receive support to reach their full potential and should not face barriers to their learning.

“Our inclusive approach to education across Scotland means additional support needs (ASN) are being increasingly recognised by local councils, who carry the statutory responsibility for schools.

“However, we recognise the growth in ASN presents challenges, so we are committed to improving how children and young people get the support they need with their learning and the draft Budget offers a package of measures worth an additional £29 million for ASN, including for the recruitment and retention of ASN workforce.”

Earlier this week, concerns about the downward trend in CSPs were highlighted by the campaign group ASN Reform Scotland, which represents more than 5,000 parents and carers, and the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), which is a group of specialist care providers.