§ Mr. ParryTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received from the secretary of the Special Educational Needs National Advisory Council, university of Liverpool; what action he intends to take; and if he will make a statement. [32328]
§ Mr. ForthThe Secretary of State has received one letter recently from the Special Educational Needs National Advisory Council—about training for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs).
The GEST programme to help local educational authorities with the costs of training teachers of children with special educational needs supports all categories of SEN training, including for SENCOs, enabling LEAs to determine the areas in which they require staff to be trained. Officials are currently undertaking a survey of LEA expenditure under the grant in the 1994–95 financial year.
SENCO training is also available under the GEST programme for the development of school SEN policies. An evaluation of expenditure under the scheme by a sample of LEAs will be undertaken in the autumn of next year.
A full reply will be sent to the advisory council shortly.