§ Lord Roganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the number of families receiving a disability living allowance for children who have been designated as having special needs, mainly because of or including emotional behavioural difficulties, has increased or decreased over the past five years; and by how much, in (a) England; (b) Wales; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland; and [HL3376]
How many families are receiving a disability living allowance for children who have been designated as having special educational needs mainly because of or including, emotional behavioural difficulties, in (a) England; (b) Wales; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland. [HL3377]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe information is not available in the form requested.
Available figures are in the following table:
Children aged under 16 in receipt of disability living allowance whose main disabling condition is behavioural disorder* Country 1994 Year21999 % increase3 from 1994 to 1999 England4 7,700 24,600 219 Wales4 600 2,500 346 Scotland4 900 3,100 247 Northern Ireland5 1,205 2,106 75 Notes: 1 Includes enuresis and hyperactivity. 2 Figures relate to 30 November. 3 Based on unrounded figures. 4 Rounded figures to nearest 100 from DSS Information Centre: 5 per cent data. 5 Unrounded figures from Northern Ireland DHSS: 100 per cent data. * Children regarded as having behaviour problems form a very broad group and include oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder, which are medically recognised categories of problem behaviour. Awards of DLA are assessed on the claimant's needs for care and mobility arising from their disability, not on educational needs. Information linking DLA awards and special educational needs is not available.
The figures for Scotland and Wales are subject to relatively large margins of error because of the small number in the sample.