SERVICES for children with special needs are heading for a major shake-up to safeguard vital work to help struggling pupils.

Education staff have ordered a review which could see schools taking on hundreds of specialist staff currently employed by the town hall.

Teachers and classroom assistants now face an uncertain time not knowing who their employer will be in the years ahead and how their job will change.

The review is designed to pre-empt Government plans to make schools shoulder more responsibility for pupils with learning difficulties by banning local authorities from getting involved until children have reached the stage where they need a special needs statement.

The new rules are expected to mean education chiefs will no longer be able to hold back cash to pay for support staff who currently carry out preventative work with younger pupils with less severe learning difficulties.

Now the council want to protect their early intervention system for struggling primary pupils by considering handing over the money directly to schools and hoping they will take on current staff to do the same work.

Under the proposals, schools may also take responsibility for more than 350 special needs assistants who support children with statements in mainstream schools. Unions have accused the authority of acting too soon and "doing the Government's dirty work for them" in advance.

Support

Primary headteacher's representative Phil Buckley told a special education meeting that schools must take on the extra responsibility or lose services.

But he stressed: "I cannot see any of my colleagues wanting to change the level of support they currently give to children in this town."

Deputy Director Terry Piggott said: "We are not talking about the completely dismantling the service and there will be safeguards for pupils to make sure the money does not leak away."

Education chiefs are suggesting a handful of pilot schools test the final proposals but stress it should not worsen services for pupils.

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