§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any plans to conduct an annual schools census in England and Wales requiring enumeration of the numbers of pupils with autism and other conditions giving rise to special educational needs as with the Scottish schools census. [HL1447]
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandProvisions now consolidated in the Education Act 1996 require schools to submit information on numbers of pupils with special educational needs. There is currently no requirement for schools to submit information in the annual schools census on the nature of such pupils' disability or learning difficulty.
The department established an SEN Data Strategy Group which, earlier this year, recommended a number of improvements to the collection of data on pupils with SEN. We are now considering how best these recommendations could be implemented, including developing appropriate data collection software and taking the views of schools and LEAs.
In June this year, the department carried out a pilot study involving a sample of 200 mainstream and special schools to assess whether it would be possible to collect data from schools on a broad range of types of SEN. We are now considering introducing a requirement for schools and LEAs to provide this information from 2003–04, and this is likely to include data on pupils categorised as having an autistic spectrum disorder.