HC Deb 04 March 1994 vol 238 cc17-8W
Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many appeals are currently with his Department in respect of children who have been statemented by Lewisham local education authority; how many statements have been issued; and how many children have been made the subject of formal assessment by Lewisham local education authority for each year since 1986;

(2) how many children have been (i) statemented and (ii) formally assessed by Lewisham local education authority in each year since 1986, whose special need is as a result of diagnosis of dyslexia;

(3) how many appeals from Lewisham local education authority relating to dyslexia are being dealt with by his Department.

Mr. Forth

The Department is currently dealing with two appeals in respect of children with special educational needs from Lewisham local education authority. One of these concerns a child with specific learning difficulties, and both are in respect of children who have been made the subject of a statement.

Information on the number of formal assessments and statements made by Lewisham LEA, for the calendar years 1991, the first full year of the authority's existence, and 1992 is shown in the table below. Information for the 1993 calendar year is still being collated, and is not yet available.

Statements of special educational needs Lewisham LEA
Calendar year
1991 1992
Children for whom a statement was made for the first time 55 322
Children assessed for whom no statement was issued 0 6
Total 55 328

Information on pupils who have been made the subject of a formal assessment or a statement is not categorised by disability.

Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many formal assessments are currently being undertaken by Lewisham local education authority; what lengths of time each stage of the assessment has taken so far; and whether the time taken exceeded the current legislative maximum time for each stage.

Mr. Forth

The Lewisham local education authority, LEA, has told my officials that it is currently undertaking 163 formal assessments. Information about the length of time taken for each stage of assessment is not available centrally. There is at present no statutory maximum time for making a formal assessment, or for the various stages of an assessment. However, subject to Parliament's approval, regulations made under the Education Act 1993 will set statutory time limits for the making of assessments and statements, with effect from the autumn of this year.

Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many appeals have been submitted to his Department from within Lewisham local education authority since 1986; what length of time each has been with his Department; and in which cases that time has exceeded the current legislative maximum time for such appeals.

Mr. Forth

Since 1 April 1990, the Department has received a total of four appeals under the 1981 Act from within Lewisham local education authority, LEA. The table below provides information on the length of time each of these appeals has been with the Department. Information is not available on appeals received from within Lewisham LEA prior to 1 April 1990.

Appeal Date Received Date Resolved
A 1 1
B 23/3/92 2/12/92
C 15/9/93 2
D 19/7/93 2
1 Information not available.
2Appeal not yet resolved.

There is no statutory maximum time for resolving appeals under the 1981 Act. However, the Department is currently consulting upon draft regulations and rules of procedure which will, subject to Parliament's approval, govern the operation of the new special educational needs tribunal, to be established under the 1993 Education Act. The tribunal will set time targets for the various stages of an appeal. These will be set out in the tribunal's guide for parents. Performance will be assessed in the tribunal's annual report.