Autistic Pupils

Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 3:27 pm on 10 February 2021.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 3:27, 10 February 2021

Thank you. When the Welsh Government first advised schools to close in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, it stated that this was with the exception of making provision for children who are vulnerable, or whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response. Welsh Government guidance states that vulnerable children includes those with care and support or support plans and those with statements of special educational needs. However, I was then contacted by several affected Flintshire families—but not by families anywhere else—denied provision on the incorrect grounds that their parents also had to be key workers. The council there only backed down several weeks later after I obtained a definitive statement from the Welsh Government. How do you therefore respond to the solicitor representing families across Wales who has contacted me stating they have a legal case, raising the issue of when an autistic child should be schooled at home or in the special school that the child normally attends—the child's parents want the child to go to school, as they can't cope—and asking does the Welsh Government guidance allow children with autism SEN or additional learning needs to attend school if home schooling is a problem for parents?