§ Baroness Darcy de Knaythasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many special educational needs statements have been issued for the last two years by each local education authority. [HL5106]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The information requested is shown in the table:
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Number of Pupils issued with New Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) By local education authority New statements made for the calendar year shown Calendar year 2000 Calendar year 2001 ENGLAND 33,746 31,432 NORTH EAST 1,984 1,688 Darlington 30 37 Durham 578 461 Gateshead 155 134 Hartlepool 63 62 Middlesbrough 131 122 Newcastle upon Tyne 85 95 North Tyneside 170 151 Northumberland 238 204 Redcar and Cleveland 89 83 South Tyneside 123 110 Stockton-on-Tees 111 140 Sunderland 211 179 120WA
Number of Pupils issued with New Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) By local education authority New statements made for the calendar year shown Calendar year 2000 Calendar year 2001 NORTH WEST 5,155 4,067 Blackburn with Darwen 151 67 Blackpool 78 55 Bolton 240 185 Bury 145 193 Cheshire 436 459 Cumbria 272 356 Halton 108 122 Knowsley 230 151 Lancashire 1,083 950 Liverpool 109 321 Manchester 350 354 Oldham 118 116 Rochdale 158 175 Salford 168 128 Sefton 98 73 St Helens 97 118 Stockport 143 194 Tameside 158 154 Trafford 114 148 Warrington 113 142 Wigan 444 260 Wirral 342 259 YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER 3,773 3,129 Barnsley 189 171 Bradford 410 310 Calderdale 145 154 Doncaster 208 166 East Riding of Yorkshire 193 161 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 107 138 Kirklees 346 280 Leeds 492 316 North East Lincolnshire 172 163 North Lincolnshire 142 148 North Yorkshire 365 426 Rotherham 256 252 Sheffield 480 185 Wakefield 152 160 York 118 99 EAST MIDLANDS 2,466 2,525 Derby 149 149 Derbyshire 719 572 Leicester 242 273 Leicestershire 362 400 Lincolnshire 375 466 Northamptonshire 413 484 Nottingham 72 48 Nottinghamshire 106 115 Rutland 28 18 WEST MIDLANDS 4,012 4,109 Birmingham 791 819 Coventry 208 258 Dudley 199 167 Herefordshire 138 130 Sandwell 229 141 Shropshire 160 209 Solihull 112 137 Staffordshire 654 850 Stoke-on-Trent 330 287 Telford and Wrekin 182 163 Walsall 187 170 121WA
Number of Pupils issued with New Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) By local education authority New statements made for the calendar year shown Calendar year 2000 Calendar year 2001 Warwickshire 339 290 Wolverhampton 166 253 Worcestershire 317 235 EAST OF ENGLAND 2,970 3,171 Bedfordshire 305 295 Cambridgeshire 356 385 Essex 546 591 Hertfordshire 376 455 Luton 89 77 Norfolk 401 468 Peterborough 141 147 Southend-on-Sea 105 138 Suffolk 562 494 Thurrock 89 121 LONDON 5,239 4,870 INNER LONDON 2,037 1,667 Camden 114 166 City of London 1 1 Hackney 139 133 Hammersmith and Fulham 110 81 Haringey 147 138 Islington 128 115 Kensington and Chelsea 51 61 Lambeth 235 58 Lewisham 226 209 Newham 226 53 Southwark 179 195 Tower Hamlets 262 233 Wandsworth 125 145 Westminster 94 79 OUTER LONDON 3,202 3,203 Barking and Dagenham 128 178 Barnet 331 313 Bexley 187 204 Brent 170 110 Bromley 193 240 Croydon 197 171 Ealing 246 160 Enfield 195 205 Greenwich 238 112 Harrow 142 104 Havering 114 116 Hillingdon 201 209 Hounslow 188 228 Kingston upon Thames 62 86 Merton 140 138 Redbridge 167 203 Richmond upon Thames 72 119 Sutton 123 133 Waltham Forest 108 174 SOUTH EAST 4,997 4,987 Bracknell Forest 94 90 Brighton and Hove 132 130 Buckinghamshire 338 340 East Sussex 291 264 Hampshire 488 583 Isle of Wight 100 83 Kent 1,151 1,050 Medway 215 171 Milton Keynes 88 104 Oxfordshire 336 348 Portsmouth 142 118
Number of Pupils issued with New Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) By local education authority New statements made for the calendar year shown Calendar year 2000 Calendar year 2001 Reading 104 109 Slough 66 49 Southampton 35 27 Surrey 665 721 West Berkshire 110 109 West Sussex 497 521 Windsor and Maidenhead 72 90 Wokingham 73 80 SOUTH WEST 3,150 2,886 Bath and North East Somerset 82 72 Bournemouth 108 33 Bristol, City of 234 145 Cornwall 395 355 Devon 401 347 Dorset 301 297 Gloucesteshire 414 458 Isles of Scilly 0 1 North Somerset 112 114 Plymouth 263 211 Poole 46 50 Somerset 202 168 South Gloucestershire 148 170 Swindon 79 78 Torbay 135 136 Wiltshire 230 251 Source:
SEN 2 Survey 2000 and 2001
§ Baroness Darcy de Knaythasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the decrease in the number of pupils who have special educational needs statements and who have been permanently excluded from schools is linked to a downward trend in the number of statements being issued. [HL5107]
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandThe latest published (final) figures show that the number of pupils with statements in England rose from 252,857 in January 2000 to 258,200 in January 2001 (estimates). The number of children for whom statements were issued for the first time in the calendar year 2000 was 33,746 compared to 35,421 in the calendar year 1999.
During a comparable period, the permanent exclusion rate for pupils with statements of SEN in the academic year 2000–01, an estimated 0.3 per cent, was three times as high as that for pupils without statements. The rate in 1999–2000 was six times as high.
Changes to the underlying data collections will, however, affect year-on-year comparability of these rates, but they do present some evidence that the rate of exclusion for pupils with statements has reduced compared with the previous year. We are looking into this. There could be a number of factors involved. We have no evidence at present to suggest that the fall in the rate of exclusions of children with statements is linked to the reduced number of new statements issued.
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§ Baroness Darcy de Knaythasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the apparent decrease in the number of statements issued and in early identification and assessment of special educational needs are contributory factors in the sharp increase (19 per cent) in the number or primary school pupils being permanently excluded. [HL 5108]
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandThe latest published (final) figures show that the number of pupils with statements in England rose from 252,857 in January 2000 to 258,200 in January 2001 (estimates). The number of children for whom statements were issued for the first time in the calendar year 2000 was 33,746 compared to 35,421 in the calendar year 1999, However, the number of new statements issued for children under five, for example, increased from 6,363 during the calendar year 1999 to 6,518 in the calendar year 2000.
There could be a range: of factors accounting for the 19 per cent increase in the number of primary age pupils being excluded from school during the academic year 2000–01, the comparable period. We are looking at possible factors but have no evidence at present to suggest that the increase is linked to the number of new statements issued.
A statutory framework is in place to ensure that local education authorities and schools identify and assess children with special educational needs as early as possible and guidance on this is provided in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. The current version came into force in January 2002 and places a greater emphasis on early identification, both during the early years and at every stage of a child's schooling. A £25 million package has been put in place in support of SEN in the early years, including support for establishing SEN co-ordinators in early years education settings and area SENCOs, with a target of one area SENCO for every 20 non-maintained settings by 2004. This is in addition to the £113.5 million being provided over the period 2001 to 2004 to improve the knowledge and skills of staff involved in government-funded early years education, which will include SEN training.