§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made to reduce the time taken by local education authorities in issuing statements of special needs; and which local education authorities have met his Department's recommended time of issuing special needs statements.
§ Mr. ForthThe information requested has not to date been collected centrally. However the Government recognise that there has been concern over the time some LEAs can take to complete their statutory duties in this area. The Education Bill, now in the other place, accordingly empowers the Secretary of State to make regulations prescribing time limits for the making of assessments and statements, subject to prescribed exceptions.