§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the number of statements maintained by individual local education authorities for each year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ForthThe number of children with statements of special educational needs maintained by each local education authority in England in January each year from 1986 to 1992 is given in the table. Information on children with statements was collected for the first time in January 1984. In that year 18,545 children in England had statements and, in the following year, 18,622.
27W
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Wirral 1,081 1,047 747 931 1,105 1,176 1,270 Bolton 632 591 600 626 640 646 696 Bury 576 544 598 727 767 834 804 Manchester 248 461 762 945 1,089 1,081 1,024 Oldham 664 591 530 570 715 863 860 Rochdale 682 697 699 623 740 844 781 Salford 742 652 547 521 496 484 470 Stockport 889 812 945 970 1,001 1,113 1,293 Tameside 789 676 714 768 847 989 1,126 Trafford 404 558 581 614 676 715 671 Wigan 218 286 447 387 1,317 735 1,000 Barnsley 457 464 433 399 400 443 520 Doncaster 124 818 875 866 917 963 1,023 Rotherham 871 886 932 900 886 1,146 1,171 Sheffield 1,368 1,328 1,273 1,296 1,399 1,334 1,261 Bradford 1,381 1,292 1,255 1,253 984 1,307 1,267 Calderdale 345 367 385 406 424 436 461 Kirklees 1,027 1,018 1,208 1,322 1,421 1,427 1,551 Leeds 1,554 2,105 1,866 2,305 2,322 2,446 2,879 Wakefield 943 905 886 837 883 881 1,011 Gateshead 608 605 517 451 413 404 503 Newcastle upon Tyne 864 847 837 866 929 894 948 North Tyneside 602 620 669 690 743 858 888 South Tyneside 422 450 494 501 498 515 497 Sunderland 1,002 959 898 881 963 986 1,107 Isles of Scilly 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Avon 6,454 3,595 3,492 3,673 3,779 4,183 4,131 Bedfordshire 1,576 1,440 1,500 1,137 1,502 1,544 1,893 Berkshire 2,252 2,220 1,995 1,946 2,163 2,314 2,4507 Buckinghamshire 2,661 2,641 2,662 2,752 2,804 3,195 3,413 Cambridgeshire 1,928 1,193 1,619 1,388 1,699 1,376 1,745 Cheshire 3,373 3,244 3,279 3,398 3,478 3,407 3,798 Cleveland 2,276 2,224 2,323 2,253 2,286 2,267 2,272 Cornwall 1,109 1,308 1,417 1,492 1,832 1,869 2,152 Cumbria 1,235 1,365 1,558 1,510 1,511 1,708 2,049 Derbyshire 2,919 3,265 3,065 3,025 3,173 3,351 3,945 Devon 2,918 3,098 3,279 3,592 3,968 4,297 4,704 - Dorset 1,681 1,844 1,940 1,940 1,926 1,848 2,151 Durham 1,646 1,445 1,654 1,656 1,818 1,886 1,938 East Sussex 1,747 1,734 1,792 1,714 1,695 1,719 1,888 Essex 4,674 4,468 4,624 4,965 4,705 4,551 4,923 Gloucestershire 217 627 563 869 973 1,184 1,477 Hampshire 5,303 4,913 5,153 5,122 5,437 7,011 7,048 Hereford and Worcester 52 127 235 412 592 956 1,197 Hertfordshire 3,446 3,534 4,086 4,095 3,633 3,693 3,806 Humberside 2,319 2,190 2,077 2,020 1,968 1,998 2,207 Isle of Wight 337 332 351 349 394 384 378 Kent 4,934 4,554 5,005 4,120 4,713 4,712 5,962 Lancashire 4,154 4,262 4,104 4,433 4,997 5,406 5,950 Leicestershire 1,725 1,716 1,826 1,571 2,172 2,299 2,592 Lincolnshire 1,972 1,936 1,942 1,995 2,091 2,307 2,534 Norfolk 1,695 1,934 2,114 2,350 2,648 2,725 2,732 North Yorkshire 1,748 1,756 1,653 2,125 2,159 2,210 2,238 Northamptonshire 1,754 1,607 1,345 473 1,594 1,840 1,847 Northumberland 874 885 880 907 914 869 1,016 Nottinghamshire 2,531 2,398 2,334 2,342 2,294 2,101 1,914 Oxfordshire 968 892 827 805 746 904 1,078 Shropshire 1,145 1,173 1,316 1,525 1,665 1,756 2,004 Somerset 1,319 1,727 1,973 2,129 1,952 1,924 1,052 Staffordshire 2,628 2,792 2,694 2,703 2,760 3,006 3,400 Suffolk 1,598 1,609 1,799 2,134 2,333 2,386 2,384 Surrey 3,355 3,341 3,532 3,694 3,674 3,921 4,172 Warwickshire 1,639 1,626 1,745 1,582 1,671 1,627 1,600 West Sussex 1,254 1,308 1,346 1,389 1,355 1,407 1,555 Wiltshire 1,862 1,886 2,125 2,344 2,512 2,863 3,299 England 135,303 134,908 138,067 138,679 142,618 154,743 165,095 n a = no return received.
§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures and resources he will make available to reduce the age at which children with special educational needs are identified.
§ Mr. ForthThe Education Bill currently before Parliament requires the Secretary of State to issue a code28W of practice giving practical guidance to schools, local education authorities and others on the exercise of their responsibilities towards all pupils with special educational needs and to which they must have regard. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State said on 29 April in another place that a guiding principle of the code of practice would be that the needs of all children with special educational 29W needs—of school age and pre-school age—should be identified and assessed as early as possible and as quickly as is consistent with thoroughness. It would also promote the principle that the early identification of special educational needs and early action to address those needs can be the most effective means of preventing or alleviating later difficulties. We shall be consulting fully on the draft code which will then be subject to the affirmative resolution procedures of Parliament before it can be issued. The Education Bill also carries forward the powers of LEAs to assess and make statements for children under two and the duties of DFIAs and national health service trusts towards children under five who may have special educational needs.