HC Deb 19 January 1981 vol 997 cc70-1W
Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans his Department has made for the International Year of Disabled People 1981; what funds have been allocated for this purpose; and if he will make a statement.

Dr. Boyson

My right hon. and learned Friend's main contribution to the International Year within the education service will be the introduction of a Bill to amend the law relating to the education of children with special education needs following the report of the Warnock committee [Cmnd. 7212].

My Department will be taking part in discussions about a possible action programme within the European Economic Community on the education of handicapped children, and will be represented at two conferences to be held under OECD auspices, one in Cardiff in September on the handicapped adolescent and one in Australia in August on education for handicapped young people.

The cost of these activities will be met within the Department's normal expenditure programmes, and future plans assume that the amount spent on special education will remain constant.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will conduct during the International Year of Disabled People 1981 a thorough review of all his Department's policies that affect disabled people; and if he wall make a statement.

Dr. Boyson

The education of handicapped children and young people has been under active review and the Government's plans for special education are set out in the White Paper "Special Needs in Education" [Cmnd. 7996] published on 6 August 1980. My right hon. and learned Friend intends shortly to introduce a Bill to give effect to those plans.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what plans the Office of Arts and Libraries has made for the International Year of Disabled People 1981; what funds have been allocated for this purpose; and if he will make a statement;

(2) if he will conduct during the International Year of Disabled People 1981 a thorough review of all policies of the Office of Arts and Libraries that affect disabled people; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Price

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what particular proposals he has to improve access for disabled people to museums and galleries receiving public funds during 1981 to mark the International Year of Disabled People.

Mr. Channon

Many museums, theatres, libraries and other institutions within my field of responsibility already make special provision for the disabled and improve it whenever funds permit. I am very anxious that wherever financially possible this should be improved. So I am taking the opportunity of the International Year to draw the attention of the major arts bodies with which I deal, such as the Arts Council, the national museums and galleries and the British Library, to the terms of the United Nations Declaration.