< Previous | Contents | Next >

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

CUSTODY, MODIFICATION, TRANSFER, DISCLOSURE, DISCONTINUANCE PRESERVATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE RECORD

204. Specific provisions for the custody etc. of Records of Needs are contained in the Education (Record of Needs) (Scotland) Regulations 1982. In the case of a Record for a young person, requirements in the Regulations to notify the young person or obtain his or her consent are satisfied by notifying or obtaining the consent of his or her parents, where the education authority considers that the young person cannot act for himself or herself.

CUSTODY (regulation 4)

By the Authority

205. A Record of Needs is a confidential document and must be kept by the education authority which opened it in a place that the authority considers appropriate. As has been explained, parents and young persons must receive a copy of the completed Record of Needs. They must also be told where they may inspect the authority's copy during normal business hours.

At School

206. A copy of the Record must also be available at the school attended by the child or young person. The Record forms part of the child's or young person's Pupil Progress Record for the purposes of supervising his or her educational development and giving adequate advice and assistance to or in relation to him or her. The contents of a Record must not be disclosed to anyone other than those authorised to see it by the Secretary of State or the education authority keeping it. (Regulation 4(3) of the Education (Record of Needs) (Scotland) Regulations 1982 and Regulation 10(3) of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975, as amended by regulation 12(a) of the School Pupil Records (Scotland) Regulations 1990). (Disclosure of a Record is further discussed at paragraphs 210-214).

TRANSFER (regulation 5)

207. One of the objectives of recording a child or young person is to ensure continuity of education. Accordingly, when a child or young person with a Record of Needs moves from the area of one education authority to that of another, the authority holding the Record must transfer it to the new authority as soon as possible.

Effect of Transfer

208. Thereafter, the Record is deemed to have been opened by the receiving authority. Subject to any review it may initiate, (which it may do immediately if it wishes) the new holder of the Record is bound by its terms and it must be treated in the same way as any other Record it holds. The authority receiving a transferred Record is responsible for amending the certificate of transfer on the face of the Record (i.e. in Part 1), for notifying the parents or, as appropriate, the young person of the transfer, and for informing them that, in future, responsibility for maintaining the Record and providing for the special educational needs of the child or young person rests with the authority (these responsibilities are discussed at paragraphs 14, 17 and 181).

MODIFICATION - (regulation 6)

209. Where an education authority amends any of the information contained in any of Parts IIIA (assessment profile), IIIB (summary of impairments), IV (statement of special educational needs arising from those impairments), V (measures proposed by the authority to be taken to meet those needs), IV (nomination of school to be attended) or any information concerning the Named Person, it must notify the parents or young person, as appropriate, of the amendment and ensure that any copy of the Record that has been issued in accordance with the Regulations is similarly modified. Also the authority must continue to retain the previous information relating to special educational needs.

DISCLOSURE (regulation 7)

210. Education authorities holding and keeping a Record of Needs may only disclose the contents of that Record in certain restricted circumstances.

Mandatory Disclosure

211. In some circumstances education authorities must disclose the contents of a Record either by allowing access to it or making a copy of the Record (or part of it) available when asked to do so in writing. The following persons have the right to ask this:

(a) the Named Person in relation to the particular Record concerned;
(b) an officer of the Secretary of State concerned with the provision being made for the special educational needs of the child or young person who is the subject of the Record; and
(c) a Reporter of a local authority who has statutory functions concerning the recorded child or young person.¹

Discretionary Disclosure

212. In other cases authorities have discretion if they are satisfied as to the purposes for which disclosure is requested, to disclose. the contents of a Record, except for Part VII, to the following persons if they submit a written request for information. However, disclosure is restricted to allowing access or giving information from a Record - an authority may not provide a copy of the Record itself (proviso (ii) of regulation 7(2))

213. Where a child or young person who has had a Record in Scotland subsequently moves to England and Wales, or to Northern Ireland, the education authority holding the Record has power, having obtained the consent of the parent or young person, as appropriate, to send a copy to the relevant authority for that area. It. is recommended that the education authority seeks the necessary consent and does so. (Disclosure to the Service Children's Education Authority is discussed at paragraph 203.)

214. Except for copies supplied to the parents or young person, all copies of or extracts from Records of Needs are returnable on demand to the authority which issued them or which currently is keeping the Record (regulation 8).

DISCONTINUANCE AND PRESERVATION OR DESTRUCTION- (regulation 9)

215. A Record of Needs must be discontinued in 4 circumstances viz.:

(a) in consequence of a decision (on appeal) by the Secretary of State;
(b) following a decision to do so as a consequence of a review;
(c) where a young person ceases to receive school education (regulation 9(l)(c)). or reaches his or her 18th birthday (section 60(2)(a)(ii) of the 1980 Act, read with the definition- of "young person"' in section 135(l) of that Act); and
(d) at the request of a young person, or his parent where the authority is of the opinion that the young person is not capable of making a request.

Arrangements where Discontinuance occurs at Direction of Secretary of State or at Request of Parent or Young Person

216. In circumstances where the authority intends to discontinue a Record, for the reasons given in a) or d) in the preceding paragraph, the authority must:

217. If a Record is to be preserved, this will be for 5 years during which time the usual provisions for disclosure as set out in paragraphs 210-214 will apply.

Arrangements Where Discontinuance Occurs As A Consequence Of A Decision On Review Or Where A Young Person Ceases To Receive School Education Or Reaches His Or Her 18th Birthday

218. Where a Record is discontinued for the reasons given in paragraphs 215b) or c) above, the authority must:

(a) note the date of discontinuance on the Record;
(b) preserve the Record for a period of 5 years from the date of discontinuance;
(c) on the expiry of 5 years destroy the Record; and
(d) if the whereabouts of the parents, or the young person, as appropriate, are known, intimate to that person that the Record has been destroyed.

219. During the period a Record is preserved, again, the usual arrangements for disclosure described in paragraphs 210-214 will continue to operate. Any and all copies of and extracts from a Record must be destroyed when the Record is destroyed (regulation 9(7)).

1With effect from 1 April 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, Part III, the statutory functions of existing Reporters to the children's panel, who are appointed by local authorities, will be transferred to a new officer, the Principal Reporter.

< Previous | Contents | Next >