Professor Malcolm MacLachlan:

I could not resist trying to answer Deputy Canney's question because it is very appealing when you are asked what is it that can be done for you. What the committee can do falls on two levels. Pone is the policy level and the other is the sort of systems change level. As I am sure members are aware, sections 3 to 13, inclusive, of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act have never been commenced. Section 13 relates to the provision of resources. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 has not yet been commenced. Members will be familiar with the report of the ombudsman that calls for a revision of the Disability Act. Many of the things we have discussed this afternoon actually stem from that Act because it gives a legal entitlement to an assessment but it does not give any entitlement to an intervention. That has been one of the channels that has caused the blockages as many people want an assessment because they think it will lead to an intervention. There should be a legal entitlement to intervention, which is of primary importance.

Standing back from that, members are aware we have been advocating for many years for more resources and that will be really important, but perhaps even more important than the issue of resources is the fact we currently have a system that is fragmented, unco-ordinated, inequitable and unfair. The children's disability network teams, CDNTs, are about addressing those problems, so they are disrupting the way in which some resources are currently distributed. Of course, some people will benefit more and others may benefit less or, indeed, may lose something, but we wish to be fully accountable to the committee in terms of what we do. We would love to have its backing in terms of trying to be constructively disruptive within the system so that we can have a non-fragmented, well co-ordinated and, above all, fair system for all children with disabilities.