asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What is (a) the average cost and (b) the average length of time undertaken to prepare a statement of educational need for children in each of the 10 districts of Greater Manchester. [HL5015]
A statement of special educational needs (SEN) is prepared following a statutory assessment of the child’s needs. Information on the cost of carrying out statutory assessments is not collected centrally.
The average length of time to prepare a statement is also not collected centrally. However, the Audit Commission monitors the proportion of draft statements issued within 18 weeks of a request for statutory assessment as best value performance indicator (BVPI) 43.
The indicator values for the 10 local authorities of Greater Manchester from 2006-07 (the most recent year for which figures have been published) are given in the table below.
Local authority Percentage of draft statements issued within 18 weeks excluding statutory exceptions to the time limits (BVPI43a) Percentage of draft statements issued within 18 weeks including statutory exceptions to the time limits (BVPI43b) Bolton 100.0 72.2 Bury 100.0 100.0 Manchester City 100.0 100.0 Oldham 100.0 97.9 Rochdale 100.0 100.0 Salford 97.1 91.0 Stockport 85.4 50.4 Tameside 100.0 96.6 Trafford 92.4 75.8 Wigan 100.0 84.3