Education (Additional Support For Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 - Implementation

Implementation

The Act places a duty on education authorities to establish procedures for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of children and young people. The identified needs must be kept under review and it will be the responsibility of all agencies to help education authorities meet their duties. The act defines such agencies as "including the local authority’s social work services, any health board, any other local authority or other agency specified by Scottish Ministers, such as Careers Scotland or further education colleges."

The new structure is intended to make accessing support easier for parents and carers. Where parents believe that their child has additional support needs they are able to request assessments which they believe are necessary; education authorities also have this ability. In situations where there is disagreement, education authorities will be under a duty to provide mediation services and they will be required to have arrangements in place for resolving disputes.

The Act is intended to provide support for children with long or short term barriers to learning, including children with severe and complex needs. Where more than one support service is involved in the provision of support for a child, a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) will be drawn up by the relevant agencies, (e.g., school and grief counsellor).