Hounslow Council's budget for deaf children's education services not under threat

Hounslow Council was the only local authority in west London which failed to reveal its budget for education services for deaf children.

The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) reported the council, along with four others in England, to the Information Commissioner when they did not respond to the Freedom of Information request on time.

Despite a response period of 20 working days and two warnings, Hounslow Council failed to comply with the law to set out its budget plans for 2015/16 by April 10.

Jo Campion, deputy director of policy and campaigns at NDCS, said: “The lack response shows a disregard for deaf children and a lack of understanding of the importance of these services.

“Deaf children can achieve the same as any other child but the right support needs to be available to them.

“The silence from Hounslow Council makes us fear the worst - that even more deaf children’s services will be falling under the axe this year, with parents being kept in the dark until it’s too late. This will have a serious impact on deaf children’s futures.”

However, the local authority has since apologised and told getwestlondon no cuts have been made to the funding for education services for deaf children.

A council spokesman said: "Unfortunately not all the requested information was available at the time of the deadline. A comprehensive answer has now been sent.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to the National Deaf Children’s Society.

"We can confirm no cuts have been made to the funding of specialist education services for deaf and hearing impaired children."

An investigation by NDCS shows, in the last five years, local councils in England have cut the money available to fund essential services for deaf children, such as Teachers of the Deaf.

The latest figures from the Government revealed of the 45,000 deaf children nearly two thirds (64%) are failing to achieve five good GCSEs and the attainment gap between deaf children and their hearing peers has widened since 2013.

There are fears that, as local budgets continue to be squeezed, deaf children could be further affected.

The NDCS sent FOI requests to 150 local authorities in England as part of the NDCS Stolen Futures campaign, which calls for a halt in cuts to essential services for deaf children.