§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements he has in place for monitoring statistics concerning the supply of services by his Department to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [183255]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 12 July2004]: The Government is committed to improving the position of disabled people in society and believes that 497W public bodies should take the lead in promoting equal opportunities. That is why my Department has in place arrangements for monitoring the position, either directly or through delivery partners.
As part of the performance management arrangements on children's social services departments, we collect and monitor information on the number of disabled children receiving services which support them either in their families or to live independently. We also monitor statistics collected via the Department of Health, of the number of parents of disabled children and 16–17 year old disabled young people, who receive direct payments from Local Authorities.
The numbers of pupils with SEN are collected through the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC). All maintained and non-maintained schools are asked to record pupils with statements of SEN, pupils at School Action and those at School Action Plus, using 11 categories of need.
Connexions Partnerships record the number of young people in their area who have been identified as having learning difficulties and disabilities, and their participation in education, employment and training. Statistics are also maintained on the number of young people with learning difficulties and disabilities in their
Attainment of five or more GCSE grades A*-C in Year 11 by parental occupation: 1988–2001 England and Wales, maintained and independent schools 1988 1990 1991 1993 1995 19971 1999 2001 Total sample size (number) 14,116 14,511 24,922 18,020 15,809 14,662 13,698 16,707 Socio-economic Group (SEG)2 (Percentage) Managerial/Profession 52 58 60 66 68 69 69 n/a Other non-manual 42 49 51 58 fi8 60 60 n/a Skilled manual 21 27 29 36 36 40 45 n/a Semi-skilled manual 16 16 20 23 26 29 32 36 n/a Unskilled manual 12 15 16 16 24 20 30 n/a Other/not classified3 15 18 18 20 22 24 26 n/a National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC)2 (Percentage) Higher professional n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 74 80 Lower professional n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 61 65 Intermediate n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 51 52 Lower supervisory n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 36 35 Routine n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 29 32 Other3 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 24 32 1From 1998, includes equivalent GNVQ qualifications achieved in year 11. 2 Up to 1999 the estimates are based on SEG taking that of the father where this can be specifically coded otherwise the mother's SEG is used. Following a National Statistics review SEG was replaced by NS-SEC. Parental NS-SEC shown here takes into account the occupation and status of both parents. For further information see SFR 02/2001 available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DI3/SFR/s000230/index.shtml and SFR 04/2003 available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000382/index.shtml 3 Iincludes a high percentage of respondents who had neither parent in a full-time job. Source: Youth Cohort Study cohorts 4–11, sweep 1