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15 Jul 2002 : Column WA117

Written Answers

Monday, 15th July 2002.

Act of Settlement 1701

The Earl of Mar and Kellie asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether the Act of Settlement 1701, a pre-Union Act, has been extended to Scotland.[HL5075]

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): Yes. The provisions of the Act of Settlement 1701 relating to the succession to the monarchy of the United Kingdom were extended to Scotland by Article II of the Treaty of Union with Scotland, incorporated in the Union with Scotland Act 1706.

Devolved Assemblies: Funding Arrangements

Lord Bruce of Donington asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they will publish the funding rules applied by the 2002 Spending Review to the devolved administrations.[HL5276]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Copies of the updated Statement of Funding Policy, which sets out the funding arrangements for the devolved administrations, have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

G8 Summit: Terrorism

Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:

    What progress they will seek to make in the global fight against terrorism at the forthcoming GB summit in Kananaskis.[HL4527]

The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): The summit was an important opportunity to take stock of progress in the fight against terrorism since 11 September and to set priorities for future action in a number of key areas.

In particular, the UK was concerned to counter the threat of terrorist acquisition of nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological materials in the former Soviet Union, especially Russia, where the world's largest stocks of such materials remain. Our priorities were the destruction of chemical weapons, the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines and the employment of former weapons scientists. GB leaders agreed at Kananaskis to launch the new Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction to help ensure that deadly materials cannot fall into the hands of terrorist groups. The G8 agreed collectively to raise up to 20 billion dollars over the next 10 years to fund projects under the global partnership. As part of the this programme, the UK plans to commit up to 750 million dollars spread over

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the next decade. The summit saw similar pledges made by other countries and the start of a dialogue with Russia over how best to implement this programme.

G8 officials have worked since March on a plan to ensure the greater security of international transport, with strong UK support. G8 members continue to work through international fora such as the ICAO and the IMO to encourage others to put in place appropriate transport security measures to guard against terrorism. Leaders agreed at the summit on the Co-operative G8 Action on Transport Security, a plan of action to promote enhanced security of land, sea and air transport while facilitating the cost-effective and efficient flow of people, cargo and vehicles for legitimate economic and social purposes.

The UK is leading co-ordination of international anti-narcotics assistance to Afghanistan. The G8 discussed the UK's anti-narcotics strategy paper and action plans for combating poppy growing in Afghanistan. As we had hoped, agreement was reached that the G8 would step up efforts to assist the Afghan Government combat opium production and trafficking and fulfil Tokyo conference commitments. Breaking Afghan dependence on the drugs trade will help reconstruction efforts, but the wider impact will be in securing regional stability and cutting one of the cash lifelines that allows terrorists to thrive.

Special Educational Needs

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 2000Calendar year 2001
ENGLAND33,74631,432
NORTH EAST1,9841,688
Darlington3037
Durham578461
Gateshead155134
Hartlepool6362
Middlesbrough131122
Newcastle upon Tyne8595
North Tyneside170151
Northumberland238204
Redcar and Cleveland8983
South Tyneside123110
Stockton-on-Tees111140
Sunderland211179
NORTH WEST5,1554,067
Blackburn with Darwen15167
Blackpool7855
Bolton240185
Bury145193
Cheshire436459
Cumbria272356
Halton108122
Knowsley230151
Lancashire1,083950
Liverpool109321
Manchester350354
Oldham118116
Rochdale158175
Salford168128
Sefton9873
St Helens97118
Stockport143194
Tameside158154
Trafford114148
Warrington113142
Wigan444260
Wirral342259
YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER3,7733,129
Barnsley189171
Bradford410310
Calderdale145154
Doncaster208166
East Riding of Yorkshire193161
Kingston Upon Hull, City of107138
Kirklees346280
Leeds492316
North East Lincolnshire172163
North Lincolnshire142148
North Yorkshire365426
Rotherham256252
Sheffield480185
Wakefield152160
York11899
EAST MIDLANDS2,4662,525
Derby149149
Derbyshire719572
Leicester242273
Leicestershire362400
Lincolnshire375466
Northamptonshire413484
Nottingham7248
Nottinghamshire106115
Rutland2818
WEST MIDLANDS4,0124,109
Birmingham791819
Coventry208258
Dudley199167
Herefordshire138130
Sandwell229141
Shropshire160209
Solihull112137
Staffordshire654850
Stoke-on-Trent330287
Telford and Wrekin182163
Walsall187170
Warwickshire339290
Wolverhampton166253
Worcestershire317235
EAST OF ENGLAND2,9703,171
Bedfordshire305295
Cambridgeshire356385
Essex546591
Hertfordshire376455
Luton8977
Norfolk401468
Peterborough141147
Southend-on-Sea105138
Suffolk562494
Thurrock89121
LONDON5,2394,870
INNER LONDON2,0371,667
Camden114166
City of London11
Hackney139133
Hammersmith and Fulham11081
Haringey147138
Islington128115
Kensington and Chelsea5161
Lambeth23558
Lewisham226209
Newham22653
Southwark179195
Tower Hamlets262233
Wandsworth125145
Westminster9479
OUTER LONDON3,2023,203
Barking and Dagenham128178
Barnet331313
Bexley187204
Brent170110
Bromley193240
Croydon197171
Ealing246160
Enfield195205
Greenwich238112
Harrow142104
Havering114116
Hillingdon201209
Hounslow188228
Kingston upon Thames6286
Merton140138
Redbridge167203
Richmond upon Thames72119
Sutton123133
Waltham Forest108174
SOUTH EAST4,9974,987
Bracknell Forest9490
Brighton and Hove132130
Buckinghamshire338340
East Sussex291264
Hampshire488583
Isle of Wight10083
Kent1,1511,050
Medway215171
Milton Keynes88104
Oxfordshire336348
Portsmouth142118
Reading104109
Slough6649
Southampton3527
Surrey665721
West Berkshire110109
West Sussex497521
Windsor and Maidenhead7290
Wokingham7380
SOUTH WEST3,1502,886
Bath and North East Somerset8272
Bournemouth10833
Bristol, City of234145
Cornwall395355
Devon401347
Dorset301297
Gloucesteshire414458
Isles of Scilly01
North Somerset112114
Plymouth263211
Poole4650
Somerset202168
South Gloucestershire148170
Swindon7978
Torbay135136
Wiltshire230251

Source:

SEN 2 Survey 2000 and 2001


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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.

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