Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 8 September 2016 to Questions 44446 and 44447, what steps she plans to take to ensure that specific language and communication, including sign language, guidelines are in place to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing pre-school children benefit from the financial investment and the early years workforce strategy referred to in those Answers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As part of our recent consultation on early years funding, the government is proposing to introduce a new targeted Disability Access Fund, which will support early years providers to make initial reasonable adjustments and build the capacity of their settings to support disabled children. The government is also proposing that all local authorities should set up an early years SEN inclusion fund. Such a structure will help settings and local authorities to work together to identify children with SEN in the early years, and to ensure that the appropriate support is in place to best support child development. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and are planning to publish the government’s response in the autumn.
The workforce strategy will set out how government will support early years staff to access training that equips them with the knowledge and skills to support the development of all children including those with special educational needs and disabilities. This will build on the work of the SEND champions programme which is funded through government and delivered by the National Day Nurseries Association. The programme identifies and trains SEND specialists to support other staff to provide appropriate learning opportunities for children with SEND.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of sign language interpreters and electronic note takers registered with the Disabled Students Allowance Quality Assurance Group to provide support to deaf students from September 2016.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department is currently working with Disabled Students’ Allowances Quality Assurance Group to review the number of support workers that have registered to provide each support role funded through Disabled Students’ Allowances. Organisations and individuals are continuing to register to provide these roles, so final figures are not yet available. We will not be able to confirm these numbers until the first DSA QAG audit cycle is completed (which will include an audit of staff details), in December 2017.
The Student Loans Company will monitor any reports about the supply of non-medical support so as to identify whether there are any issues with their availability.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf young people aged 16 to 24 achieved (a) intermediate, (b) advanced and (c) higher apprenticeships in 2014-15; and what their destinations were following apprenticeship completion.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Information on apprenticeship achievements is published as part of a Statistical First Release, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held
Table 1 shows apprenticeship achievements by 16-24 year olds with hearing impairments in 2014/15, by level.
Table 1: Apprenticeship Achievements by 16-24 year old learners with hearing impairments | ||||||
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Level | 2014/15 |
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Intermediate Level Apprenticeships | 250 |
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Advanced Level Apprenticeships | 130 |
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Higher Apprenticeships | - |
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All Apprenticeships | 380 |
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Notes: |
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1) Data source is the Individualised Learner Record. | ||||||
2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest ten. "-" indicates a base value of less than 5. | ||||||
3) Learners with hearing impairments figures are based upon self-declaration by the learner, where the provider has indicated that they have a disability, learning difficulty or health problem. | ||||||
Information on the destinations of learners to this level of detail is not centrally collected.