§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider providing technical apparatus where appropriate to children below school leaving age to overcome sensory handicaps; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RossiIn addition to those types of apparatus, with which the hon. Member will be familiar, which are provided from central funds, both health and social services authorities have powers to provide technical apparatus for individual use, both children and adults, where it is meeting a health or welfare need.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department will undertake to provide equipment of all sorts which enable handicapped children to obtain a normal education; if he will consider placing technical aids for communication and learning in the same category as spectacles and hearing aids; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RossiThe contribution which technical aids may make in overcoming a communication handicap in children, particularly a speech impairment, requires careful assessment by a multi-disciplinary team, including professionals from both the health and education service. I am satisfied with the present position whereby, apart from equipment provided from central funds to which I referred in my reply to the hon. Member today, provision through the National Health Service is determined locally according to the circumstances of each child's needs. Equipment necessary for purely educational purposes is a matter for the local education authority or school concerned and in either case costs arising must be met out of existing resource allocations.