Robert Buckland Weblog

It is early on Christmas Eve, so I am taking a few moments to reflect upon recent events locally and nationally. Last week, a delegation of members of the Swindon SEN Network had a two hour meeting at the Civic Offices with a group of Councillors who were reviewing Special Needs provision in the authority. The main themes that emerged were the application of criteria by the LEA when assessing the needs of children and determining whether a Statement was necessary, and the question of how transparent the process was. We are hoping that the SEN group will not pull any punches when issuing their final report. We all acknowledged that Swindon’s decision to retain its special schools has meant that provision for children with acute problems was good, but we remained very concerned for those children whose needs were such that they were being retained in mainstream education without adequate support.

The loss of data by the various arms of Government continues. Now its the turn of the NHS Trusts to lose personal data about patients. The DVLA managed to lose information concerning three million candidates for driving tests, which was something we were not told about for weeks until an announcement by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly last week. It is very tempting to make a cheap jibe about North Swindon MP Michael Wills, who has the dubious honour of being this Government’s Minister for Data Protection amongst other things, but I will refrain. I simply ask this question: why on earth is the Government pressing on with the ID Card and Register scheme when the perils of centralising sensitive data are being demonstrated week by week? It would seem that public opinion is really turning against ID Cards and the NIR, so there is still hope that this madness will cease.

What do I want in my stocking tomorrow? Satsumas and a General Election, in that order.

A very Happy Christmas to everyone.