To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in mainstream education have a learning difficulty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in mainstream education have a learning difficulty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Equal Lives report of the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Equal Lives report of the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability.

I thank the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) for triggering the debate. I know that he takes a great interest in the subject and I am sure that his contribution will be appreciated by many outside this Chamber. He was eloquent, forthright and passionate, and I congratulate him on...

I thank the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) for triggering the debate. I know that he takes a great interest in the subject and I am sure that his contribution will be appreciated by many outside this Chamber. He was eloquent, forthright and passionate, and I congratulate him on...

Westminster Hall adjournment debate on the education of children with speech and language difficulties.

Westminster Hall adjournment debate on the education of children with speech and language difficulties.

I welcome the opportunity to initiate this debate on the education of children with speech and language difficulties. I begin by declaring an interest as the father of Oliver, three years old next week, who earlier this year was diagnosed as suffering from severe verbal dyspraxia. Last week, at its...

I welcome the opportunity to initiate this debate on the education of children with speech and language difficulties. I begin by declaring an interest as the father of Oliver, three years old next week, who earlier this year was diagnosed as suffering from severe verbal dyspraxia. Last week, at its...

My hon. Friend will be aware that under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 provision is made for a review of training for ordinary staff and potentially for special educational needs co-ordinators. Is he aware that, in the other place on 31 October, Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Lord Adonis...

My hon. Friend will be aware that under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 provision is made for a review of training for ordinary staff and potentially for special educational needs co-ordinators. Is he aware that, in the other place on 31 October, Baroness Sharp of Guildford asked Lord Adonis...

I am mindful of your injunction about the time, Miss Begg, and I shall try to let all my colleagues in. It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), who is also my constituency neighbour. He spoke with great passion and knowledge...

I am mindful of your injunction about the time, Miss Begg, and I shall try to let all my colleagues in. It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), who is also my constituency neighbour. He spoke with great passion and knowledge...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right—Lord Adonis does, of course, need to do so. In conclusion, will the Minister give me and this Chamber an assurance that the repeated physical restraint of children in our schools, whether or not they have speech or language difficulties, will be something that parents...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right—Lord Adonis does, of course, need to do so. In conclusion, will the Minister give me and this Chamber an assurance that the repeated physical restraint of children in our schools, whether or not they have speech or language difficulties, will be something that parents...

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on securing the debate and on speaking so powerfully about a subject on which he obviously has a very deep interest. He talked about a continuum applying to children who have deafness and hearing impairment, and that continuum...

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on securing the debate and on speaking so powerfully about a subject on which he obviously has a very deep interest. He talked about a continuum applying to children who have deafness and hearing impairment, and that continuum...

No, question four had two parts—Roman one and Roman two. The Minister was not listening as carefully as he should have been. The seamless approach that I have described will be essential as people with a communication impairment move through life, because it will enable them to grasp opportunities to...

No, question four had two parts—Roman one and Roman two. The Minister was not listening as carefully as he should have been. The seamless approach that I have described will be essential as people with a communication impairment move through life, because it will enable them to grasp opportunities to...

That is six questions.

That is six questions.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on securing the debate and, indeed, on the oratorical grasp and passionate embrace that he brought to it—it was a mix of Pericles and Mark Anthony. He has a growing reputation for championing good causes, and there is none...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on securing the debate and, indeed, on the oratorical grasp and passionate embrace that he brought to it—it was a mix of Pericles and Mark Anthony. He has a growing reputation for championing good causes, and there is none...

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), who was inspiring, as he usually is on this subject. I hope that my good neighbour, the Minister, will be duly inspired by the very good speeches that we have heard. I congratulate all who spoke, but particularly my hon....

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), who was inspiring, as he usually is on this subject. I hope that my good neighbour, the Minister, will be duly inspired by the very good speeches that we have heard. I congratulate all who spoke, but particularly my hon....

Will the Minister give way?

Will the Minister give way?

So much to say, so little time to say it. This excellent debate was instigated by the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow). Beyond offering him the customary congratulations on securing it, let me genuinely pay tribute to him for his impassioned, informed, highly articulate and fluent presentation of his...

So much to say, so little time to say it. This excellent debate was instigated by the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow). Beyond offering him the customary congratulations on securing it, let me genuinely pay tribute to him for his impassioned, informed, highly articulate and fluent presentation of his...

My hon. Friend makes the point more forcefully and eloquently than I could have done, and I am grateful to him for doing so. My second point for the Minister relates to the fact that when I was a business man with companies in the 1980s, I had sheltered employment...

My hon. Friend makes the point more forcefully and eloquently than I could have done, and I am grateful to him for doing so. My second point for the Minister relates to the fact that when I was a business man with companies in the 1980s, I had sheltered employment...

Does my hon. Friend agree that when it is agreed that speech and language therapy is to be provided by someone from the primary care trust, there must be a watertight legal right to enforce the provision on the PCT? The ducking and diving and reneging on commitments is wrong,...

Does my hon. Friend agree that when it is agreed that speech and language therapy is to be provided by someone from the primary care trust, there must be a watertight legal right to enforce the provision on the PCT? The ducking and diving and reneging on commitments is wrong,...

You will have no problem with me, Miss Begg. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs. Miller), whom I entirely support in her desire to prevent the closure of special schools. I shall deal with that subject, but first I want to comment...

You will have no problem with me, Miss Begg. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs. Miller), whom I entirely support in her desire to prevent the closure of special schools. I shall deal with that subject, but first I want to comment...

I cannot, because I have so much to say. I look forward to the report early in the new year, and I shall be pressing officials to ensure that it comes, and we can respond to it, as soon as possible, given the concerns raised today. I agree with the...

I cannot, because I have so much to say. I look forward to the report early in the new year, and I shall be pressing officials to ensure that it comes, and we can respond to it, as soon as possible, given the concerns raised today. I agree with the...

Table showing a) number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by special education needs in maintaned primary, secondary and special schools for the years 1997/98 to 2004/05, b) local authorities who maintained a statement of special education needs for less than 2% of pupils as at January 2006, c) maintained primary schools with 50% or more pupils with special education needs as at January 2006 and d) all schools, excluding special schools, with more than 10% of pupils with a statement of special education needs as at January 2006.

Table showing a) number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by special education needs in maintaned primary, secondary and special schools for the years 1997/98 to 2004/05, b) local authorities who maintained a statement of special education needs for less than 2% of pupils as at January 2006, c) maintained...