HC Deb 07 July 1993 vol 228 cc171-2W
Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by regional council areas the length of time taken by education departments to open a record of need for children with(a) physical and(b) special learning needs; and what is the average time for completion of such records.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

This information is not collected centrally. However, a research report (Children with Special Educational Needs: Thomson et al: August 1989) showed that in Scotland just over half of all Records of Needs are completed in under six months and nearly three-quarters within eight months.

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of the existing school rolls in Scotland has been identified as involving children with special educational needs over each of the past five years; and if he will give a breakdown per regional education department.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

Information on the percentage of education authority school pupils for whom a record of needs was opened and in force in terms of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended, is shown in the table.

Percentage of pupils in education authority schools and departments with a record of needs as at September 1988–921
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Scotland 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
Borders 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.7
Central 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.5
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Dumfries and Galloway 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.4
Fife 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9
Grampian 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3
Highland 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Lothian 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7
Strathclyde 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.5
Tayside 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.9
Orkney 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7
Shetland 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7
Western Isles 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.8
1 Excluding nursery schools and departments.

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of the existing school rolls in Scotland have had records of needs(a) opened and (b) completed in each of the past five years.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

The total number and percentage of children attending education authority schools (excluding nursery) in Scotland with records of needs at September in the last five years is:

Year Number of pupils with record of needs Percentage of school roll
1988 7,628 1.0
1989 7,236 1.0
1990 7,998 1.1
1991 8,669 1.2
1992 9,660 1.3

Information on how many of these records were opened within any particular year is not collected, but a recent research report (Children with Special Educational Needs: Policy and Provision: Thomson et al: August 1989) showed that 950 records were opened in 1988, which equalled the average for the two preceding years.

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the number of children with speech and language difficulties in Scotland; and how many of these attend residential schools(a) in Scotland and (b) furth of Scotland.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

In 1991, the latest year for which figures are available, 1,949 children with records of needs had language and communication difficulties, though these would not necessarily be a child's sole or main learning difficulty. Sixty seven pupils attended residential special schools in Scotland. The number of those attending residential schools furth of Scotland is not held centrally.