Lord Chelwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many children are known to have special educational needs for physical or mental reasons, how many of these have "statements", and how many attend (a) special local authority schools, (b) other schools run by local authorities and (c) grant-maintained schools.
§ Baroness Hooper: The information is not available in the form requested. Since 1983 pupils in England and Wales have not been classified in accordance with categories of handicap. The total number of children with statements in England and Wales in January 1987 was 144,841. Of these 94,693 were attending special schools maintained by local education authorities and 35,082 were attending ordinary schools maintained by local education authorities. The Bill to establish grant-maintained schools is at present before Parliament.