THE aim of the drive led by the government to place more children with special needs in mainstream schools is noble -- ensuring that as many as possible are included in the community and not made to feel distinct from it.

Nonetheless, it is reassuring to see Lancashire education chiefs proceeding with caution with the policy and with measured pace as they embark on a massive review of the county's special schools provision.

For the last thing that parents of these children want is to feel that everything is cut and dried and that valued special needs schools are at risk and their expert staff and services are to be precipitately scattered across ordinary schools.

Evidently, in wake of public outrage over its steam-rollered plan to close old folk's homes, the County Council has become alert to the need for full and proper consultation when it comes to the review of such important services and the impact of change on the lives of vulnerable members of society.

And the pledge given at the outset by County education boss Alan Whittaker that no children in special needs education would be forced into mainstream schools against their parents' wishes is a crucial yardstick that this review must always adhere to.