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Art and Design Edexcel Unit Tests
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the pass rate of students at (a) unit 4 and (b) unit one of the recent GNVQ intermediate art and design Edexcel unit tests. [157895]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 10 April 2001]: Responsibility for assessing the standards of qualifications rests with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and with the awarding body.
New Deal (Coventry)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in Coventry have found jobs through the New Deal. [157858]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 10 April 2001]: The table shows, for Coventry, jobs gained from New Deal programmes in the period ending January 2001.
| Jobs gained | |
|---|---|
| New Deal for Young People | 1,765 |
| 25+ New Deal | 85 |
| New Deal for Lone Parents | 536 |
| New Deal 50+ | 226 |
| New Deal for Partners | 1 |
New Deal (Hampstead and Highgate)
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in Hampstead and Highgate are benefiting from each strand of the New Deal. [158021]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 10 April 2001]: The following table shows, for Hampstead and Highgate parliamentary constituency, starts to New Deal programmes and jobs gained in the period ending January 2001.
23 Apr 2001 : Column: 112W
| Starts | Jobs gained | |
|---|---|---|
| New Deal for Young People | 1,085 | 367 |
| 25+ New Deal | 1,333 | 221 |
| New Deal for Lone Parents | 301 | 71 |
| New Deal 50+ | n/a | 26 |
Figures for other voluntary New Deal programmes are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
Learning Difficulties
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many of the teaching assistants providing classroom support for children with learning difficulties have received training in special needs education. [158081]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held centrally.
Through the Department's Standards Fund programme, we are supporting expenditure on special educational needs (SEN) training and development for teachers, headteachers, special educational needs co-ordinators and teaching assistants. It is envisaged that, of the overall £82 million available for SEN in 2001-02, £30 million will be spent on training. This is an increase from SEN training expenditure of £26 million in 2000-01 and £21 million in 1999-2000.
From September 2000 we have made available introductory training materials for recently recruited teaching assistants, which include coverage of the special educational needs framework, and in October of last year we published "Working with teaching assistants: a good practice guide".
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of the legislation relating to the employment of people with learning difficulties. [158347]
Ms Hodge: My Department monitors Employment Tribunal cases and case law on the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). It also carries out targeted research on how the DDA's employment provisions are working. "Monitoring the Disability Discrimination Act 1995--Phase 2" (an interim report published in March 2000 by Income Data Services Ltd.), provides a statistical analysis of Employment Tribunal cases and a commentary on case law.
Of the 487 Employment Tribunal cases where the disability was known and the case reached a hearing, 18 concerned specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) and 3 severe learning difficulties. The Disability Rights Commission, as part of its statutory role for monitoring the DDA, will be taking forward with my Department the next phase of the project later in 2001.
Pupil Exclusion
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children have been excluded from school because of their health needs in the last 12 months. [158082]
Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is not collected centrally.
23 Apr 2001 : Column: 113W
Information on permanent exclusions was published in the Statistical Bulletin "Permanent Exclusions from Maintained Schools in England" on 29 November 2000, copies of which are available from the Library, or alternatively can be accessed from the Department for Education and employment statistical website www.dfee.gov.uk/statistics.
We are providing £174 million this year to help schools and LEAs tackle exclusion--a third more than in 1999-2000 and 10 times more than in 1996-97. This is helping to pay for more than 1,000 on-site Learning Support Units which take disruptive pupils out of the classroom quickly, improve their behaviour and reduce the need for exclusion. Where an exclusion is necessary, provision for excluded pupils is being greatly increased. There are now 1,000 more places and nearly 600 more teachers and support staff in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) than in 1997. The quality of education provided by PRUs has improved rapidly and by September 2002 all local education authorities will be required to offer excluded pupils a full-time education, not the 2-3 hours typical in the past.
Special Educational Needs
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children have a statement of special educational needs, what percentage of school age children have been statemented, and what percentage of statemented children are on (a) level 2 and (b) level 3, in each local education authority. [153149]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The available data are shown in the table.
Arrangements for identifying and providing for children with SEN are set out in the Education Act 1996 (and, prior to this, the Education Acts 1993 and 1981). This Act is supported by the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs, issued in 1994, to which local education authorities (LEAs) and schools must have regard. The Government published "Meeting Special Educational Needs: A Programme of Action" in November 1998 following consultation on its proposals to support the increased achievement of children with SEN.
The Code of Practice sets out five recommended stages for addressing the different levels of pupils' SEN. Stages 1-3 are school-based, with support from specialists from outside the school at stage 3. The vast majority of these children will have their needs met in mainstream schools. Stage 4 involves the LEA considering the need for, and if appropriate making, a multi-disciplinary assessment of the child's needs. Stage 5 involves the LEA making and monitoring a statement of SEN. The Government are currently reviewing the Code of Practice.
(60) Excludes dually registered pupils in Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units
23 Apr 2001 : Column: 116W
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to ensure statements under Part 3 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill [Lords] quantify provision. [158121]
Jacqui Smith: Section 324(3) of the Education Act 1996 requires that statements specify the special educational provision to be made for individual children. We have no plans to change this. The existing Special Educational Needs Code of Practice recognises that, in many cases, specific provision should be quantified, while in other cases flexibility should be retained. The revised Code of Practice, which will shortly be placed before Parliament for approval, will expand on this guidance. It will make it clear that a statement should describe clearly all of the child's special educational needs in full; set out the main objectives that the special educational provision aims to meet; specify clearly and detail the provision required to meet each of the child's needs; describe the arrangements for setting shorter-term objectives for the child and any special arrangements for the annual review of the statement. The revised Code will recognise that there may often be a need for provision to be expressed in terms of hours, equipment or personnel, and it will also state clearly that authorities must not, in any circumstances, have blanket policies not to quantify provision in statements.
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