§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the change in incidence of special needs children with statements between 1997 and 2001 as a proportion of pupils on roll at all schools. [5372]
§ Mr. TimmsSince 1997 the percentage of children with statements of special educational need has increased from 2.9 per cent. in January 1997 to 3.1 per cent. in January 2001. This continues an increase from earlier years: for example, the proportion of statemented pupils was 2.6 per cent. in 1995. We believe that these increases reflect improved early identification measures, and improved procedures, in particular the introduction of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Needs in 1994.
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§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the factors underlying the change in the incidence of special educational needs children without statement from 1997 to 2001 as a proportion of pupils at all schools. [5373]
§ Mr. TimmsSince 1997 the percentage of children with identified special educational needs without a statement has increased from 15.1 per cent. in January 1997 to 18.8 per cent. in January 2001. We believe that this increase reflects improved early identification measures, and improved procedures, in particular the introduction of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Needs in 1994.
§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many appeals were heard by the Special Educational Needs Tribunal; and how many were successful in 1999–2000 [5377]
§ Mr. TimmsThe number of appeals heard by the Special Educational Needs Tribunal in 1999–2000 was 1,196. Of these some 931 were successful, in whole or in part.