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In this Report
Commons Written Answers (3 Nov 2003)
Sign Languages
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the submission of the Government to the Bureau of the Steering Committee on Education (Council of Europe) outlining its proposals and position statement on the legal recognition of sign languages.
Maria Eagle: Yes.
Commons Written Answers (3 Nov 2003)
Digital Hearing Aids
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what qualifications are required to fit digital hearing aids; and how many people qualified to fit digital hearing aids are employed by (a) the NHS and (b) the contractors (i) Ultravox and (ii) Ormerod.
Dr. Ladyman: Although there are significant differences between the way digital and analogue hearing aids are fitted, there is no specific additional qualification to fit digital hearing aids. The Institute of Hearing Research estimates that 659 national health service employees have so far been trained as part of the modernising hearing aid services project to fit digital hearing aids. This includes people whose training has so far been cascaded from those trained directly. The Department does not collect information about how many private sector contractors can fit digital hearing aids.
Commons Written Answers (4 Nov 2003)
Audiology
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) what steps the Government are taking to make its suicide prevention strategy accessible to deaf people;
(2) what measures he is taking to encourage the collection of information on suicides by deaf people at primary care trust level.
Ms Rosie Winterton: The suicide prevention strategy was launched in September 2002. The strategy is still available in hard copy and can also be accessed via the Department of Health and National Institute for Mental Health in England websites. The deaf community is able to request copies of the document through the Department of Health Publications Orderline on minicom.
Primary care trusts (PCTs) are required to carry,out suicide audits as part of their performance review process, but this does not, however, require PCTs to collect data about deaf people as distinct from any other group.
The development of mental health services for deaf people, "A Sign of the Times", was the subject of a separate extensive consultation, which concluded earlier this year. Officials are currently considering how to represent the many high quality responses received.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures the Government is taking to develop evidence-based service provision for the prevention of mental health problems in deaf people.
Ms Rosie Winterton: The evidence that we have indicates, as outlined in the consultation document Sign of the Times, that access to a full range of services, support to parents in the early years and appropriate educational provision are likely to be the important factors.
The responsibility for assessing the needs of their entire populations, and for making the provision they consider most appropriate, lies with the primary care trusts.
Commons Written Answers (4 Nov 2003)
Condover Hall School
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills,
(1) if he will make a statement on the range of disabilities of children at Condover Hall School;
(2) what estimate he has made of the average funding per pupil at Condover Hall School in the last year for which figures are available;
(3) if he will publish the correspondence between his Department and the Royal National Institute for the Blind on the closure of Condover Hall School.
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 30 October]: We understand that Condover Hall School makes provision for pupils who are visually impaired with multiple and complex needs. Some children are non-ambulant. The School also makes specialist provision for deaf-blind pupils.
As a non-maintained special school, local education authorities placing children at Condover Hall negotiate with the school about the fees to be paid for each child. Fee levels vary depending on the complexity of the child's needs and the type of placement, for example, day placement, weekly boarding, 38 week or in some cases 52 week boarding. Average funding per pupil varies between around £30,000 p.a. and £100,000 p.a. depending on the type of placement. In the current financial year Condover Hall received around £70,000 in grants from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), designed to raise standards.
My Department was formally notified by the RNIB about the proposed closure of Condover Hall in a letter dated 24 July this year. As my hon. Friend Mr. Miliband said in his reply to your earlier questions about Condover Hall School, officials at the DfES have asked the RNIB to clarify its plans for the closure of Condover Hall, and in particular to explain how the RNIB intends to ensure that appropriate and realistic plans for the placement of children currently attending the school are in place. They are currently awaiting a response. Copies of the relevant correspondence have been forwarded to the hon. Member.
Commons Written Answers (6 Nov 2003)
Health Care (York)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when digital hearing aids will be offered to NHS patients in York.
Miss Melanie Johnson: York Hospitals National Health Service Trust will begin fitting digital hearing aids as part of the modernised hearing aid service by March 2004.
Commons Written Answers (12 Nov 2003)
Mental Health
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the service improvements set out in the document, "Sign of the Times", will be implemented in the NHS.
Ms Rosie Winterton: "Sign of the Times" was a consultation document on improving mental health services for deaf people. The consultation continued until April of this year and officials are currently considering how best to represent the many high quality and detailed responses received.
Commons Written Answers (12 Nov 2003)
Trade and Industry - Communication Technologies (Disabled Access)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of the Communications Act 2003 on access by disabled people to modern communication technologies.
Mr. Timms: The Communications Act only received Royal Assent on 17 July 2003. It is too early to assess the impact. The Communications Act contains specific measures to improve access to modern communications technologies for disabled users. The Universal Service Order made under the Communications Act sets out specific obligations on access to communications services for disabled users. Ofcom has responsibility to ensure compliance with these obligations. Section 10 of the Communications Act creates a new duty on Ofcom to encourage the availability of easily usable apparatus for all consumers, including disabled users, and sections 303 to 308 deal with the provision of television services for the deaf or visually impaired. Ofcom will report on the progress it has made in these areas as part of its annual report.
Lords Hansard (17 Nov 2003)
Disabled Students
Lord Campbell of Croy: My Lords, would not the situation be improved or rectified if assessment for disabilities was made at the earliest opportunity after disablement occurs?
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Yes, my Lords, there is no dispute about that. At present, a student who becomes disabled while at university can qualify for funding from disability living allowance, disabled student allowances and so forth. Perhaps one half of all disabled students are able to benefit from additional funding, which is about £20,000 a year beyond student educational loan support.
The difference between disability and sickness is that there is a longer period of dependency on forms of support, whether financial, physical or personal help. That is why, inevitably, there is - in my view, properly - a period of assessment in order to make that distinction.
Lord Skelmersdale: My Lords, as I understand the problem, disabled full-time students can claim income support only if they qualify for disability premium or severe disability premium when they have been incapable of working for 28 weeks, as the noble Baroness said. Or - this is odd - they qualify for disabled student allowance because they are deaf. Why are the deaf especially singled out? I repeat, deaf.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, the noble Lord has made his point well. Students generally look to the educational system, not the social security system, for financial support while at university. However, in addition, there is a range of financial allowances for disabled students, which include DLA at £100 a week, disabled- student allowances that can go up to £15,000 per year, as well as travel funds and additional hardship funds. The point about deafness is that an immediate assessment can be made, particularly if it is a permanent disability.
The problem remains that students meet the same criteria for assessment for disability as all other disabled people. Students are discriminated against neither positively nor negatively, whether before or after university, or within or outside university. All are asked to meet the same rules of eligibility for disability living allowance and income support.
Lord Addington: My Lords, is it true that students who are over the age of 25 who become disabled have no rights to incapacity benefit if they have not paid two full years of National Insurance contributions? That must be very difficult for those late entrants who move straight on from undergraduate to postgraduate studies.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, as the noble Lord will know, to be eligible for incapacity benefit, a person must have the appropriate National Insurance credits. When your Lordships discussed these issues a couple of years ago, we decided - encouraged by the noble Lord, Lord Rix - to ensure that people starting university with a long-standing disability would receive youth incapacity benefit rather than the old SDA; that is, if the disability was incurred before the ages of 16 or 18. That was regarded as very helpful for young people.
If someone has never qualified for incapacity benefit by virtue of having no National Insurance credits, he or she would be entitled to income support in the usual way.
Commons Written Answers (17 Nov 2003)
Audiology
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects digital hearing aids to be available to patients on the NHS in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland.
Miss Melanie Johnson: The James Cook University hospital, Middlesbrough, will be fitting digital hearing aids routinely as a part of a modernised hearing aid service by March 2004.
Commons Written Answers (17 Nov 2003)
Hearing Aids
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average current waiting time is in the South West London Strategic Health Authority for a hearing aid assessment to fit digital hearing aids.
Mr. Hutton: These figures are not held centrally.
Commons Written Answers (18 Nov 2003)
Digital Hearing Aids
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time is for digital hearing aids in the NHS, broken down by primary care trust area.
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. We have invested £94 million over two years, which will be used to make digital hearing aids available across England by April 2005.
Commons Written Answers (18 Nov 2003)
Waiting Times
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for hearing assessments for (a) patients under 60 and (b) patients over 60, broken down by primary care trust, was in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. We have invested £94 million over two years, which will be used to make digital hearing aids available across England by April 2005.
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