§ 9. Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the success of the access initiative; and what provisions have been made for its continued funding. [29100]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mrs. Cheryl Gillan)Some 800 mainstream schools will benefit from schools access initiative projects in 1996–97 to improve access to the curriculum for disabled pupils. We shall consider shortly the position for 1997–98.
§ Mr. SteinbergI thank the Minister and congratulate the Government on introducing the access initiative with the National Union of Teachers and Scope, which initiated it. Has the Minister analysed the scheme in depth? Does she know in which schools the money was spent? Does she know how the money was spent and whether the projects were successful? If she has not carried out a careful analysis of the scheme, will she undertake to arrange for the Department to do so? Will she give the House a guarantee that the scheme will continue and that money will be put into local education authorities so that more schools can benefit from the access initiative?
§ Mrs. GillanI thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind congratulations, which I accept on behalf of the Government. We have put almost £10 million into the schools access initiative, which will help to provide better access for disabled pupils. Under the Education Act 1993, schools must report every two years on their access arrangements. In 1995, an audit showed that disabled access varies widely from area to area. That is why we have put money into the initiative. We shall carry out another audit in 1997, which we expect to show increased accessibility.