THE expression “postcode lottery” has gained much traction in recent years. It suggests services that should be rights are actually matters of luck. It hints at disparity, unfairness, unequal treatment. It raises suspicions about a lack of national strategy – or, if there is one, that some local authorities are not co-operating with it.

In the case of giving additional support to pupils with complex needs, councils have a statutory obligation both to identify such children and to provide extra help for them. However, disturbing evidence is beginning to emerge that this obligation is being flouted.

Additional Support Needs (ASN) admittedly relate to a complex spectrum of conditions that include autism, learning difficulties, social or emotional issues, dyslexia and speech disorders. Not all children with such problems require a co-ordinated support plan (CSP) but for those with particularly complex, high-level needs, such assistance is necessary – and legally guaranteed.

The idea that it might depend upon where the child lives is a cause for serious concern. New figures show that, for example, 5.3 per cent of the pupil population in Renfrewshire have a CSP compared to 0.1 per cent in Falkirk and East Ayrshire.

There may be reasons to account for this. For example, some local authorities may have staffing difficulties, not unrelated to a fall in the number of teachers trained to support such pupils – at the same time as the number of children needing such aid has risen massively.

To compound discomfort about this issue, evidence suggests children in disadvantaged areas are more likely to have additional needs but less likely to get the necessary support. Once more, the attainment gap edges wider.

Concern has already been raised that “pushy” parents in better-off areas are securing support for their children, but the wider problem suggested here is an onus on parents to lobby for help. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.

The case of a family who spent seven years fighting to get a CSP for their autistic child is shocking. In that case, there is the suggestion of a council reluctant to offer support, never mind to play an active part in identifying the problem.

The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition is calling for a review into how councils support pupils with complex needs, and we support them in this. Such a review should consider in particular how CSPs are brought into play. A targeting of resources to deprived areas may also be required.

The seeming reluctance in some places to implement CSPs suggests a failure to recognise that this is everyone’s problem. It impacts on all children. Failing to support some parents is failing to support them all. And failing children by postcode is simply unacceptable.