§ Joyce QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of children with autism was in each district health authority in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [26884]
§ Jacqui SmithThe figures requested are not available. The Medical Research Council's recently completed review of the Epidemiology and Causes of Autism notes that differences in definitions used in the past make comparisons problematic. The review states that there is fairly good agreement in recent studies that autism spectrum disorders affect about 60 per 10,000 children under eight and more narrowly defined autism between 10 and 30 per 10,000.
We are investigating ways of improving our data on autism. The Children in Need census issued in September/October 2001 is collecting data on the numbers of autistic children known to social services departments in England, who will be an important group within the overall total.
In June 2001 the Department for Education and Skills carried out a pilot exercise on data collection on a broad range of types of Special Educational Needs involving 200 schools and is now considering introducing a requirement for schools and local education authorities to provide this information from 2003 or 2004. This is likely to include data on pupils with autism.