UK Council on Deafness

June 2008 Parliamentary Report

In this Report

• Emergency Calls, Hansard Written Answers 2 June 2008
• Employment: Hearing Impaired, 2 June 2008
• Children's Centres: Disabled, 10 June 2008
• Questions for Written Answer, 12 June 2008
• Special Education Needs (Information) Bill, 13 June 2008
• Sport: UK Deaf Sport, 18 June 2008
• Questions for Written Answer, 20 June 2008
• Lords Written Answers Children: Deafness 30 June 2008
  

Emergency Calls
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers 
2 Jun 2008

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies she has conducted into the viability of a 999 text message service for use by members of the public.

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.

My Department has not conducted such studies. Short Message Service (SMS) text is a store and forward medium with no guarantee of delivery, and in most cases the sender will not know whether a message has been received. This means that SMS text is not generally suitable for emergency calls.

However, BERR officials, working with other Government Departments, the telecommunication service providers, the emergency services and representatives of deaf and other user organisations, have identified a technical solution for providing an emergency SMS text service for the deaf, and those with hearing or speech impairment. Technical development will be necessary before trials can be carried out. It is hoped that the work will be completed later this year. The service will provide an alternative option for those who routinely use SMS text and either do not use a text relay service or may be in a situation where it is not available.

As SMS does not provide a real time service and cannot be a substitute for voice or text relay services, any emergency SMS service will only be available to those who have registered with the service and accept its limitations.

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Written Questions for Answer 
Monday 2 June 2008
Employment: Hearing Impaired

Stephen Williams (Bristol West): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Department is taking to enable deaf people to remain in or return to work.

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Hansard Written Answers
Children's Centres: Disabled
10 June 2008

M rs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Sure Start children's centres are implementing the early support programme for young disabled children; and when that programme will be available in all Sure Start centres.

Beverley Hughes: My Department does not collect data on the number of children's centres implementing the Early Support Programme (ESP). ESP was developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health in partnership with a range of voluntary organisations and the central programme team has been based in the voluntary sector at the Royal National Institute for Deaf (RNID) since 2002, The ESP Programme Team's report in October 2007 showed that 99 local authorities were implementing Early Support, 14 authorities were starting to implement it, nine authorities had not committed to start the programme, and no assessment could be made on the remaining 28 authorities due to insufficient information.

The Government have invested an additional £900,000 during 2008-09 to mainstream the ESP approach more widely. This funding covers continued regional consultancy to support and train LAs to implement and embed ESP, a national marketing campaign to raise the profile of ESP across LAs and health services and a new website which provides information for parents, professionals and service providers.

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Questions for Written Answer
12 June 2008

Lord Hanningfield to ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received from gliding clubs and individuals regarding the proposed requirement that all aircraft carry Mode-S transponders and radio equipment; and whether they have received any representations regarding the effect of the proposals on deaf and hard-of-hearing pilots.

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House of Lords
Friday, 13 June 2008.

Special Educational Needs (Information) Bill
For full details please see word document.

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Lords Written Answers
Children: Deafness
30 June 2008

Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consideration they have given to the key findings of the National Deaf Children's Society's recent survey of the needs and views of deaf children and young people as they affect government departments; and what action they will be taking. [HL4148]

30 Jun 2008 : Column WA3

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): The National Deaf Children's Society's report Changing Your World Youth Consultation was launched on 10 June 2008. This said that that young people want to see more mainstreaming of activities for deaf children and young people. The Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds which we introduced in 2006 give young people a direct say over activities and facilities in their area. It is a universal programme with a focus on reaching disadvantaged young people including those with disabilities. Young people can participate in three ways: as an applicant for funding: as a grant giver; and as a beneficiary of the activity or facility provided through the programme.

Young people also want more information and advice made available to them. The National Core Offer was launched as part of Aiming High for Disabled Children on 15 May 2008. The National Core Offer is a statement of the standards which families with disabled children can expect across the country from local services. It is concerned mainly with early years, education, youth, social care and health services, but is also relevant for those delivering housing, leisure and transport services.

The core offer will ensure that parents of disabled children are involved in determining provision; have a single assessment of need where possible; are clear what they are entitled to and how to access the service; give disabled children and young people the option of being fully involved in the development of local services and designing their package of care; and are not subject to multiple assessments before services are provided.

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Lords Hansard text 
18 Jun 2008
Sport: UK Deaf Sport

Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the effect on the future of UK Deaf Sport of the decision of UK Sport to discontinue its £42,000 annual grant to UK Deaf Sport; and whether they will review the decision.

Lord Davies of Oldham: No assessment has been made about the effect on UK Deaf Sport of UK Sport's decision to discontinue its annual grant.

Following London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, UK Sport was asked to produce a new investment framework in 2006 to focus on a programme of support for elite athletes to enable them to achieve ambitious medal goals for London 2012.

However, UK Sport's world-class performance programme does not discriminate against deaf athletes, with some having previously received support through the programme to compete at the highest level.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has consistently advised UK Deaf Sport to contact Sport England about alternative funding options, including a possible lottery application. Sport England has yet to receive such an application from UK Deaf Sport.

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Written Questions for Answer
20 June 2008

Lord Morris of Manchester to ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the key findings of the National Deaf Children's Society's recent survey of the needs and views of deaf children and young people as they affect Government departments; and what action they will be taking.

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