Statutory Instruments
1997 No. 1625

EDUCATION, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Education (Disability Statements for Local Education Authorities) (England) Regulations 1997

Made
30th June 1997

Laid before Parliament
7th July 1997

Coming into force
1st August 1997

The Secretary of State for Education and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 528 and 569(4) and (5) of the Education Act 1996(1), hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement, application and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Disability Statements for Local Education Authorities) (England) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st August 1997.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to local education authorities in England.

(3) In these Regulations “the authority” means the local education authority by whom the disability statement is published.

Information to be contained in disability statements

2.  Information contained in a disability statement about the provision of facilities for further education made by the authority in respect of disabled persons shall cover the following matters—

(a)the policies of the authority relating to the provision of facilities for further education;

(b)the names of, and the titles of posts held by, members of the staff of the authority with special responsibilities for disabled persons specifying in each case whether the member of the staff has such responsibilities in respect of all facilities for further education secured by the authority or in respect only of such facilities provided at particular institutions;

(c)the names of, and the titles of the posts held by, members of the staff of the authority from whom information about admission arrangements can be obtained;

(d)educational facilities and support provided by the authority specifically for disabled persons;

(e)arrangements for handling complaints and (where applicable) appeals in respect of any of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (d) above or (f) and (g) below;

(f)additional support or special arrangements during examinations and assessments;

(g)physical access to educational and other facilities; and

(h)any special arrangements made by the authority as to fees charged for the provision of further education (including special arrangements for the provision of such facilities without charge).

Intervals at which disability statements must be published

3.—(1) The interval between the date on which these Regulations come into force and the date of publication by the authority of its first disability statement shall be such that the first disability statement is published by 15th December 1997.

(2) The interval between publication of subsequent disability statements shall be such that each statement is published by 31st December in the year following the year in which the previous statement was required to be published.

Andrew Smith
Minister of State,
Department for Education and Employment
30th June 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Section 528 of the Education Act 1996 provides that every local education authority must publish disability statements at prescribed intervals. A disability statement is a statement containing information of a prescribed description about the provision of facilities for further education made by the local education authority in respect of disabled persons.
The regulations (which apply in relation to local education authorities in England) prescribe the information which must be contained in a disability statement (regulation 2) and the intervals at which such statements should be published (regulation 3).

(1)
1996 c. 56.