DISABLED pupils and their families could be disadvantaged by a new law governing the number of hours they must attend school, according to a leading charity.

Councils have a potential “get-out” clause in situations where a child is informally excluded from classes under the new education act, according to Enable Scotland.

The learning disability group has published a report on inclusion policies in schools that draws attention to the provision, which is not yet on the statute book.

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It allows local authorities to provide fewer hours than the legal minimum for pupils, if they are “satisfied that the pupil’s wellbeing would be adversely affected if the prescribed hours were to be made available”.

Enable Scotland says it is concerned the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 effectively offers local authorities a legal loophole, allowing schools to reduce school attendance for a child who is struggling, rather than providing additional support.

Its Included in the Main report, which highlighted claims from parents that pupils with learning disabilities are regularly excluded from school on an informal basis, on the grounds they are not coping or need some time out.

Enable Scotland argues the problem is often a shortage of expertise in the school workforce or a lack of resources.

That view is backed by education law expert Iain Nisbet, a consultant solicitor with Cairn Legal.

He said: “This law gives all the power and discretion to the education authority. They could say ‘yes, we think your child should be at this school, but only for an hour or two per day or per week. Parents have heard all of these excuses before. This will make it much more difficult to act effectively for parents.”

Jan Savage, Enable Scotland’s director of external affairs, said. “Councils must not interpret the law as a get out clause about hours. There is a need for strong guidance for all local authorities on how to deliver inclusive education.”

Education Secretary John Swinney pledged to bring forward renewed guidance on exclusions this week and told the Scottish Parliament that the issues raised by the Enable Scotland report were important.

However, Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said parents should decide whether their child should be in a mainstream class or a special school.

“While helping pupils with learning disabilities into mainstream education is a laudable aim, these statistics show that not enough is being done to help support them,” she said.

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“Many schools do not have the resources to accommodate them, and as a result these children are being left behind. It must be up to the parents to decide whether they want their child to enter mainstream education, or whether a specialist school would be better equipped to help them.”

Labour Inequalities spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “This damning research should serve as a wake-up call to SNP Ministers that they will be failing children in Scotland if they carry on making cuts to local authorities.”