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Special Educational Needs
7. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD): What steps she is taking to reduce the time involved in statementing pupils with special needs in schools. [58785]
The Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning (Bill Rammell): Following our 2004 special educational needs strategy—[Interruption.]
Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): He did not hear me.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The hon. Gentleman has a reputation for sedentary interventions, but I would appreciate a lower decibel level.
Bill Rammell: I take it that my hon. Friend's remark was not directed at me.
Following our 2004 special educational needs strategy, we established a team of SEN advisers. It has been working with local authorities to help them meet their statutory duties and has targeted authorities showing poor performance in getting statements completed on time, which has led to a significant improvement in performance.
Dr. Cable: The Minister will be aware of the enormous frustration faced by many parents who are trying to get rapid and satisfactory statementing. What assurances can he give me that the situation will not deteriorate for children statemented into the mainstream sector when schools become more independent and may be less inclined to provide support arrangements for special needs children in the school of their first choice?
Bill Rammell:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and know that he takes a detailed interest in the issue. I assure him that all maintained schools, including trust schools, are under a duty after being consulted to admit children whose statements name their school,
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so the policy is clear and categorical. On top of that, the framework includes early intervention and advice through SEN co-ordinators, which has led to a significant improvement in performance—an increase of some 10 percentage points in the proportion of statements that are dealt with within the statutory time limit of 18 weeks in the five years running up to 2005. That is what the parents of children with special educational needs want to see happen, and we are making sure that it does.
Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney) (Lab): Parents of autistic children are interested in special needs statements, as well as in what provision exists in schools. Will my hon. Friend carry out a national audit of provision for autistic children in our schools, as the situation is very patchy? Will he issue a statement on what LEAs are doing, given that some provide more than others and some provide more in some parts of their area than in others?
Bill Rammell: I believe that looking at best practice and seeing how we can spread that right across the country is the way forward. We do, from time to time, receive calls for radical reappraisals and reviews. That would not be the right way forward. We need to ensure that we get it right on the ground by improving early intervention, building the skills base within our schools to deal with special educational needs, bringing special and mainstream schools closer together and, in particular, improving multi-agency working.
Mrs. Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con): I hear what the Minister says, but there is a great deal of concern about statementing. The system is not working properly at the moment. Only last week, I met a group of parents in my constituency who expressed their concerns about statementing and the inclusion in mainstream schooling of children with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Schools cannot cope, and the parents did not feel that the action being taken was appropriate. Will the Minister share with the House his thoughts on why Government figures show that the number of children with special educational needs, but no statement, has increased? Does he agree that the time has come for a review of how statementing, and indeed inclusion, work to support this important and vulnerable group of children?
Bill Rammell: This group of vulnerable children is at the forefront of our thinking as we develop policy. Since we introduced our SEN strategy, "Removing Barriers to Achievement", in 2004, there has been a tangible and significant improvement in performance. On the key criterion of the percentage of statements without exceptions that are drafted within the 18-week target, performance has risen from 82 per cent. to 92 per cent. in the five years running up to 2005. That is significant evidence that we are improving performance.
Adult Education
9. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington)
(LD): How many adult education courses have closed at colleges in England in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [58787]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Phil Hope): We do not collect details of individual course changes centrally. However, our priorities for adult learning are outlined in the Learning and Skills Council's strategy document, "Priorities for Success". They are: support for adults who lack basic skills; support for adults who lack the level 2 platform of skills for employability; ensuring opportunities for developing level 3 skills; and safeguarding adult opportunities for personal and community development. We expect provision to be realigned to meet those priorities, and colleges, as independent bodies, will decide which courses they choose to run.
Tom Brake: The Minister will be aware that the Association of Colleges estimates that some 200,000 courses will be lost by the end of this year. The LSC document to which he refers estimates that by 2008 some 500,000 further education courses will be lost. Does he accept that not only Australian cake decorating courses will be scrapped or have their fees increased, as he suggested, but vital courses for people with severe learning disabilities, as well as people who are seeking to re-skill mid-career?
Phil Hope: The hon. Gentleman is wrong on his last point. We expect the amount of funding to support adult participation in learning to remain about the same at some £2.8 billion to £2.9 billion, but we are reprioritising where that money is to go in line with the skills gaps that, for example, Lord Leitch's interim report identified. The number of adult places on courses contributing directly to those priorities might reduce. However, some 274,000 additional level 2 places will be created through our new train to gain programme—a £630 million programme over the next two years to deliver training of the kind that employers need through a demand-led system. I might add that some colleges—for example, City College Brighton and Hove—has expanded participation while increasing its fee income, so it can be done.
Mr. Brian Jenkins (Tamworth) (Lab): When my hon. Friend said that we do not collect numbers, does he mean that we have no idea of how many adults take educational courses at FE colleges? If so, I would be amazed, given the benefits to our nation of adults going back to FE colleges. They not only improve their skills, albeit sometimes at a basic level, thus contributing to their reskilling and re-employment, but make a major contribution to the country. I am surprised that we do not have our eye on the ball.
Phil Hope:
The question was about the number of adult education courses, not adult education learners. We collect figures on learners, as I said in an earlier response. The number of adult education courses is a matter for local colleges to determine. My hon. Friend is right that we have a skills gap that needs to be filled—Lord Leitch spelled that out in his interim report; the full report will be published later this year. Indeed, our FE White Paper, which we shall publish in the near future, spells out the importance of skills for the future success of our economy and the important role that FE plays as one of the economic drivers of social mobility and economic success in this country.
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Trust Schools
10. Mr. Greg Hands (Hammersmith and Fulham) (Con): What powers new trust schools will have beyond those already available to foundation schools. [58788]
The Minister for Schools (Jacqui Smith): Trust schools build on the existing foundation school model and will be empowered to make decisions about their buildings and staff needs. The specific opportunity that trust schools have compared with the majority of foundation schools is the ability to benefit from a lasting relationship with external partners, who will provide new opportunities for collaboration and support for leadership, teaching and learning in the school.
Mr. Hands: As was said in yesterday's debate, my constituency has one of the country's fastest growing rates of independent school attendance. Will the Minister view it as one of the key indicators of the success of the new trust schools that the rate of parents who opt out of the system in a constituency such as mine is decreasing rather than increasing?
Jacqui Smith: It has never been the Government's objective to get more young people and families to opt out of the state school system. Our objective is to draft in support for state school pupils from wherever we can get it to ensure that we are confident that all children, whatever their background, get the high standard of education that they deserve.
Anne Snelgrove (South Swindon) (Lab): Several schools in my constituency have shown an interest in and willingness to look at trust and foundation school status. However, some say that we already have such partnerships and are already venturing into the outside world. I believe that those partnerships are not as deep or extensive as those that trust school status would bring to schools. Such status will offer many more opportunities. What is my right hon. Friend's view on that?
Jacqui Smith: My hon. Friend makes an important point. The trust school model is aimed precisely at building on the good experience in our system of the past eight years, such as the contribution that external partners make to the specialist school movement and the way in which schools are beginning to collaborate for the benefit of their pupils. However, as my hon. Friend rightly says, those collaborations are too often dependent on the enthusiasm and commitment of dedicated individuals. If they move on, the collaboration is often unable to continue. The ability to embed such collaboration, make it permanent and bring in external support is one of the key benefits of the trust school model.
Mr. Mike Hancock (Portsmouth, South) (LD): Will the Minister confirm that, when a trust school is established, it will be wholly responsible for all the maintenance commitments on the school site? Will the trust have the right to dispose of the school's assets when the local authority currently holds the freehold?
Jacqui Smith:
And read my speech from yesterday, in which I spelled out the provisions for ensuring that,
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although the assets of a trust school, like those of foundation schools, will be vested in the trust, there are also considerable provisions governing the disposal of assets. They are aimed at protecting publicly funded assets so that, to dispose of them, the trust would need to inform in advance the local authority, which would be in a position to agree a share of the proceeds or alternative use. If a school broke its link with a trust, the assets would revert to the school or, in the case of closure, the local authority.
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