HC Deb 28 July 1966 vol 732 c309W
5. Mr. Derek Page

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what machinery exists within his Department for co-operation with other Departments in the detection, treatment, and special training of deaf children in Norfolk.

Mr. Denis Howell

These arrangements are for the local authority. The Department and the Ministry of Health work closely in touch and there is a joint Chief Medical Officer for both Departments, but the local authorities are co-operating with the hospital service and general practitioners.

6. Mr. Derek Page

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to arrange contact between teachers of deaf children and potential employers in Norfolk, with a view to wider understanding of the problems involved.

Mr. Denis Howell

Arrangements of this kind are the responsibility of the local education authority and the youth employment service in the first instance.

In a circular issued jointly by the Ministry of Health and my Department in March, 1966, after consultation with the Ministry of Labour, local authorities were asked to review arrangements for coordinating services for handicapped children and young people. Arrangements for children leaving school are among those they were asked to examine with particular care.