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Rosa Monckton: Let learning disabled work below minimum wage - from Janine

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Rosa Monckton: Let learning disabled work below minimum wage - from Janine

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Call to relax wage rule for learning disabled

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People with learning disabilities should be allowed to work for below the minimum wage, says Rosa Monckton, who was a close friend of Princess Diana. Miss Monckton, whose youngest daughter has Down's Syndrome, said that unless the law changed, they would be denied the human dignity that comes with work.

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The number of people on controversial zero hours contracts has reached a record high of 910,000.

New figures based on an analysis of Office for National Statistics data reveal that 105,000 more people were on contracts that do not guarantee work in 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.

That's an increase of nearly 14%, and 30% higher than 2014.

In 2005, there were just 100,000 people on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).

But although the new figures are a record, they also reveal a sharp slowing in the rate of increase in the last six months of 2016.

"It's notable that the increase of 0.8% in the second half of 2016 compares to a 7.7% rise over the same period in 2015," said Conor D'Arcy, policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, which undertook the analysis of the ONS's Labour Force Survey.

"Ever since ZHCs hit the headlines the numbers have increased sharply every six months. The latest figures bring this run to an end."

That decline in the rate of increase for such contracts - which have been criticised for being forced on lower paid workers - could be down to three reasons.

First, as the levels of employment reach record highs, people looking for work can be more demanding about the type on contracts they sign.

The number of people on zero hours contracts rose rapidly after the financial crisis as employers sought to cut costs and be more flexible and employees were more concerned about losing their jobs.

Second, as the UK approaches full employment, the number of new jobs being created - whether full time or zero hours - is slowing.

The third reason appears to be business reputation.

After controversies over zero hours contracts at companies such as Sports Direct, a number of businesses have either stopped using them or reduced their use.

Homebase, the DIY chain, scrapped zero hours contracts earlier this year.

And JD Wetherspoon, which runs pubs, offered thousands of staff on ZHCs the chance to move onto contracts which guarantee hours.

Exploitative?

Although zero hours contracts have been controversial, many say they provide flexibility to people such as students, parents and those with other caring responsibilities.

The employee - who still receives employment rights such as annual leave - does not have to accept work offered.

"We shouldn't dismiss all ZHCs as exploitative," Mr D'Arcy said.

"Over the past year, approaching half of the increase has been among workers aged 55-64.

"For many of these workers, ZHCs could offer a flexible transition from full-time work to retirement, allowing them to top up their incomes.

"Neither are they all low-paid positions: one in six ZHC workers are in the three highest-paying occupation groups."

Bottom line

But the government is concerned that "precarious working" is undermining the tax base as people on zero hours contracts are generally less well paid and more reliant on in-work benefits.

"Workers on ZHCs appear to face a significant pay penalty - typically earning £1,000 less annually than similar workers - as well as being more likely to be underemployed," Mr D'Arcy said.

"From a living standards perspective, both are troubling."

The government is likely to make the issue of zero hours contracts and the gig economy - where people take on "self-employed" work for companies like Uber - a key issue in the Budget next week.

Both have been blamed for undermining the way the present tax system works.

The Treasury is likely to announce further steps towards "balancing" the amount of tax paid by the self-employed and those on short term or zero hours contracts, so that they pay similar levels of tax to those in full-time, guaranteed employment.

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Zero hours contracts reach record levels

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The number of people on controversial zero hours contracts has reached a record high of 910,000. New figures based on an analysis of Office for National Statistics data reveal that 105,000 more people were on contracts that do not guarantee work in 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.

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How Much Time Should Students With Significant Disabilities Spend in Regular Education Classrooms and Elsewhere 1996

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How Much Time Should Students With Significant Disabilities Spend in Regular Education Classrooms and Elsewhere 1996

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"Either he goes, or I'm taking my daughter out of the school."

This is what a parent told me in confidence last summer. They were referring to a boy with Down's syndrome, and associated behavioural difficulties, who had been in their daughter's class for the six years of primary school. The boy was demonstrating behaviours that would see another child excluded. This included hitting, kicking, biting (students and staff), damaging property, swearing and disrupting lessons to the point that the classroom had to be evacuated several times a week - and their daughter was struggling to cope with the disorder.

We are an inclusive school, and were committed to meeting his needs, determined not to fail him. Special educational needs (SEN) experts had been involved from the start and full-time, one-to-one support was in place. Educational psychologists suggested a child-centred programme of study; speech and language therapists delivered communication therapy; occupational therapists designed programmes of activities to be done three times a day, requiring designated space and costly equipment. We accommodated all of this and more in our one-form entry primary school where both space and cash are at a premium, driven by his parents' unwavering insistence that mainstream school was the only place he could ever reach his full potential. Other children with similar needs had succeeded here - why not him?

But in striving for inclusive education, we had unwittingly turned a blind eye to the elephant in the room. If inclusion requires a child to be excluded from the same experiences and boundaries as everyone else just to remain on the premises, then it's not inclusion. I've lost count of the number of times I've been told to put the child first, but why only the child with SEN? What about the 29 other children whose education is hindered and - in some cases - personal safety jeopardised? I am responsible for those children too.

I am for inclusion, but not at all costs. In this case, the cost was not only the child's happiness and progress, but the happiness and progress of everyone else in the school. We lost two good members of staff after they had been reduced to tears on numerous occasions by feelings of utter helplessness. On bad days, senior leaders would take over, trying every trick in the book but managing little more than babysitting to give staff respite and minimise collateral damage.

We had hoped that things would improve with more time and strategies. But as the child got bigger, more independent, physically stronger and emotionally aware, it was apparent we couldn't offer the right help. We ran out of options.

Thankfully, the boy is now in specialist provision and, with the right support, is doing much better. But it was too late for some of his classmates who transferred schools to ensure their own education could proceed more effectively.

I recall the headteacher explaining that our school "believed in inclusion" and that we wanted our students to grow up understanding and tolerant of differences, prepared for the "real world". But that's not what was happening. In the real world, nobody would force someone with SEN to stay in an environment where they were coping so badly. The rest of the children in his class may well now have a negative view of people with Down's syndrome, unfairly tainted by one experience.

Most primary teachers receive very little training in how to teach SEN students and it is often left to teaching assistants, who are even less qualified, to provide the necessary support. I remember his parents saying: "You can't just put any learning support assistant with him, he needs a specialist with expertise in his area of need." I completely agreed, but such specialists aren't common and those with the skills the child needed tend to work in special schools, not as support assistants in mainstream primaries.

In year 2 we have a little girl with autism. She is doing well, but is prone to outbursts and sometimes lies down and refuses to move - it's her way of coping. Her classmates have learned not to react to this and if she lies down they simply walk round her so lessons can continue. This is, in some ways, a positive thing: they accept her and don't bat an eyelid when her behaviour is unusual. However, I can't help but feel we've brought up a cohort of children who, when they see someone with special needs in distress, would assume they should just walk by without offering help.

Inclusion in principle is the right sentiment but, at best, it can come at a high price and, at worst, it can be a complete injustice. Children are individuals so the solution needs to be individual. There are plenty of examples of children with SEN who are successfully integrated in mainstream schools to the benefit of themselves and their peers. But if we want children with SEN to have the same opportunities to succeed as others, we should not feel guilty about admitting they may need a different environment in which to do this. Furthermore, our responsibility is to all children equally, not just those with SEN.

We need to be very careful that well-meaning ideals are not depriving children of their right to the specialist provision they need, nor indeed - if we are being truly inclusive - depriving others in the process. Inclusion, yes, but not at any cost.

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Secret teacher: I am all for inclusion in principle, but it doesn't always work

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Keeping children with special educational needs in mainstream schooling can deprive them of expert care - and their classmates of a decent education

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Warnock Report 'Special educational needs' (1978) Notes on the text

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[ARCHIVED CONTENT] UNESCO - Web Archive Access

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IMF Access Framework, easy access to web archives

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Applies to England and Wales

Example Objects

"To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society.

For the purpose of this clause 'socially excluded' means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one or more of the following factors: unemployment; financial hardship; youth or old age; ill health (physical or mental); substance abuse or dependency including alcohol and drugs; discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, ethnic origin, religion, belief, creed, sexual orientation or gender re-assignment; poor educational or skills attainment; relationship and family breakdown; poor housing (that is housing that does not meet basic habitable standards; crime (either as a victim of crime or as an offender rehabilitating into society)."

"To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society.

For the purpose of this clause 'socially excluded' means being excluded from society, or part of society, as a result of being a member of a socially and economically deprived community."

"To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by working with people in (insert geographical area of operation) who are socially excluded on the grounds of their ethnic origin, religion, belief or creed (in particular, members of the Muslim community) to relieve the needs of such people and assist them to integrate into society, in particular by:

1. providing a local network group that encourages and enables members of the Muslim community to participate more effectively with the wider community;

2. increasing, or co-ordinating, opportunities for members of the Muslim community to engage with service providers, to enable those providers to adapt services to better meet the needs of that community."

"The promotion of social inclusion for the public benefit amongst people between the ages of 16 to 30 who are socially excluded by providing them with an opportunity to build capacity by establishing and growing a business to relieve the needs of those people and assist them to integrate into society.

(For the purposes of this clause 'socially excluded' means 'young people between the ages of 16 to 30 years of age who are excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one or more of the following factors: unemployment; financial hardship; race; gender; poor educational or skills attainment; disability; ethnic origin; or who are within, or have experienced, the public care or penal system')."

"The promotion of social inclusion among deaf parents and their children who are socially excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of being deaf by:

1. providing education and information to support and enable deaf parents to maximise educational opportunities for their children;

2. raising public awareness of the issues affecting deaf parents and their children, both generally and in relation to their social exclusion;

3. providing workshops, forums, advocacy and general support;

4. providing recreational facilities and opportunities for deaf and hearing people."

"The promotion of social inclusion among elderly persons who are excluded from society because they are house-bound, or who are unable to drive or easily access public transport, by the provision of:

1. a transport service to and from recreational and public services;

2. outings and social trips including transport to and from home;

3. information technology at home to enable them to access the internet".

"The promotion of social inclusion among single parents and their children, who are excluded from society, or parts of society, due to their social and economic position by the provision of a crèche, play scheme and drop in support and education centre to enable single parents and their children to develop and gain new skills".

"The promotion of social inclusion for the public benefit among people who are refugees and asylum seekers who are socially excluded on the grounds of their social and economic position, by providing:

1. education and training in the English language and in vocational skills;

2. social and recreational facilities and events involving the local community."

Please refer to the publication: The promotion of social inclusion

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