UK Council on Deafness

January 2008 Parliamentary Report

In this Report

• Health: Audiology, 8 January
• Emergency Calls: Hearing Impaired, 8 January
• Teachers: Sign Language, 9 January
• Order Book, 22 January
• Teachers: Sign Language, 29 January
• Special Education Needs, 29 January

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Health: Audiology
Lord Hansard Text
8 January 2008

Please see word document

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Emergency Calls : Hearing Impaired
Hansard Written Answers
8 January 2008

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will introduce a nationwide scheme to enable deaf people to send text messages to the emergency telephone number 999.

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 18 December 2007]: The telecommunications service providers, in discussion with the emergency services, have identified technical solutions for providing an emergency SMS for the deaf, and those with hearing or speech impairment. The mobile service providers are currently scoping a trial which will assess the technical feasibility of providing a service to mobile handsets which have been registered for the service.

The service will provide an alternative option for those who routinely use SMS and either do not use a text relay service or may be in circumstances where it is not available. It is anticipated that the trial will be conducted in the second half of 2008.
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Teachers: Sign Language
Hansard Written Answers
9 January 2008
Teaching: Hearing Impaired

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

(1) what research his Department has commissioned on effective teaching for deaf and hearing impaired pupils in the last 10 years;

(2) what guidance his Department gives to local authorities on the placement of deaf and hearing-impaired children.
Kevin Brennan: In July 1998, the then Department for Education and Employment commissioned a review of the literature on the educational achievements of deaf children and young people. While the report suggested that deaf and hearing impaired learners do lag behind their hearing peers in their achievements in mathematics and reading it also found that the presence of additional child difficulties, language used in the home and socio-economic status, appear to be more stable predictors of exam success than the degree of hearing loss. The report also found that in many studies, degree of hearing loss itself does not correlate with educational achievement. In those studies where there is a relationship between the two, the correlation may well be attributable to other, latent factors. However, the Government are committed to narrowing the attainment gap between deaf children and their peers. We are currently working with the National Deaf Children's Society and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People to improve the availability of data in order to establish an accurate picture of this attainment gap and take steps to reduce it.

Regarding guidance the Department gives to local authorities on the placement of deaf and hearing-impaired children, the SEN code of practice provides practical advice to all local authorities, maintained schools, early education settings and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children's special educational needs. All these parties are required to have regard to the code.

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Order Book
22 January 2008

Malcolm Bruce (Gordon): To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, if he will review the definition of relay services for the deaf in the Government's 2003 Universal Service Order to include newer technologies such as video and internet protocol relay; and if he will make a statement.

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Hansard Written Answers
29 January 2008
Teachers: Sign Language

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

(1) what standard of British Sign Language attainment is required of teachers of the deaf;

(2) what comparative assessment he has made of the educational progress of deaf children taught using British Sign Language and those taught using total communication.

Kevin Brennan: Where qualified teachers wish to specialise in teaching children with a sensory impairment, including a hearing impairment, they must obtain an additional mandatory qualification (MQ). The current specification for MQ courses includes the expectation that participants successfully completing the MQ for teachers of pupils with hearing impairment should have a minimum competence in signing, equivalent to the CACDP (Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People) Stage 1 qualification. The Training and Development Agency for Schools is currently reviewing the MQ specification, which has included detailed consultation with the approved MQ providers and a range of other interested parties. The Department has made no comparative assessment of the educational progress of deaf children taught using British Sign Language and those taught using total communication.

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Special Educational Needs
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers
29 January 2008

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many pupils with statements of special educational need are recorded as attending (a) maintained special schools, (b) maintained mainstream schools and (c) other educational settings broken down by category of special educational need;

(2) how many pupils in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools have a diagnosis of autism;

(3) how many pupils with autism attend (a) maintained special schools, (b) maintained mainstream schools and (c) other educational settings, broken down by category of special need;

(4) how many statements of special educational need were issued in respect of children (a) with autism and (b) recorded as deaf and having impaired hearing in each year for which figures are available;

(5) how many and what proportion of deaf and hearing-impaired pupils are recorded as having (a) special educational needs with a statement, (b) special educational needs without a statement and (c) no special educational needs.

Kevin Brennan: Type of special education need is only collected for pupils with statements of SEN and at School Action Plus within maintained mainstream and special schools and non-maintained special schools. This information is not collected for pupils in independent schools or pupils at School Action.

The available information has been placed in the Library and can be found in table 9 of SFR Special Educational Needs in England: January 2007, which is available on the Department's website here:

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