HC Deb 23 July 2002 vol 389 cc994-6W
Mr. Wyatt

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidelines exist on the provision of pre-school education to children with special educational needs. [69721]

Estelle Morris

All children in the early years should be treated as individuals to ensure each has equal opportunity to develop their full potential. This message is reinforced throughout the joint DfES/Qualifications and Curriculum Authority publication, "Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage", which has been made available to all early years practitioners. The guidance stresses the importance of early intervention and the key role practitioners play in identifying learning needs, and in the planning required to support those needs.

The requirements of the Nursery Education Grant require all early years settings that receive it to have an SEN policy and have regard to the revised SEN Code of Practice. We included a new chapter in the revised SEN Code of Practice entitled, "Identification, Assessment and Provision in Early Education Settings", which expands significantly on SEN provision for children under five years of age. In addition, the SEN and Disability Act 2001 enables private, voluntary and independent sector settings to request statutory assessments for the four year olds in their care, and for three year olds by 2004 when we expect universal provision for this age group.

Mr. Wyatt

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial support is available to children with special educational needs to attend mainstream pre-school in the same circumstances as other children. [69722]

Estelle Morris

In March 2001, we announced a £25 million three year programme to support children with disabilities or special educational needs in the early years. This funding supports a number of DIES SEN and disability initiatives all of which are focused on enabling children with SEN to participate in mainstream provision. These initiatives include £9.5 million for local training over three years of identified Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in the private, voluntary and independent sector early years settings; £11 million additional funding for LEAs and Early Years Development and Child care Partnerships (EYDCPs) this financial year and the next, to support and improve existing SEN support activities; £3 million for support services such as Portage schemes, projects aimed at early identification and intervention for SEN, and better resources for children with low incidence disability; and £1 million for the development of national training materials to support local SEN training activity. The funding has also resourced 4 Area SENCO pilot projects in 2001–02. We are drafting guidance following the conclusion of the pilot projects on the role and objectives of Area SENCOs, and encouraging EYDCPs to start developing networks of "Area SENCOs" who will work with early years settings by the autumn of this year.

The Department continues to work closely with EYDCPs who are making SEN and disability support a priority over the three financial years 2001–02 to 2002–03 and 2003–04. In 2002–03 we asked them through the statutory planning process, to develop local joined up SEN and disability support/resource strategies, and to build networks with local education, social and health support services and other key local agencies. We also asked EYDCPs to provide us with details on planned working groups in 2002–03 involving key local services and to highlight the difficulties in bringing these services together.