HL Deb 15 July 2002 vol 637 cc118-22WA
Baroness Darcy de Knayth

asked 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:

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

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

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 Knayth

asked 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 Upholland

The 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.

Baroness Darcy de Knayth

asked 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 Upholland

The 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.