By Sean Coughlan BBC News education reporter

The special needs audit will apply only to "severe" cases

The Department for Education has confirmed that the audit, promised in Labour's election manifesto, will apply only to the most severe disabilities.

Parent and special needs campaigner Julie Maynard says this amounts to a "cynical manipulation".

Many physical and learning difficulties will be excluded from the audit.

The audit will consider only the services available in England for a narrowly-defined set of "severe" needs, including "severe visual impairments" and the most severe cases of autism or behavioural problems.

Election issue

Ms Maynard, who is a lay representative at special educational needs tribunals, says it means services for the majority of young people with statements of special need will not be covered - including children with cerebral palsy or many forms of autism.

We will undertake a national audit of special school provision to give better comparative information to local authorities, head teachers and school governors as they plan future special needs provision Schools Forward Not Back, Labour manifesto

The provision for children with the severest needs is not the problem area, she says.

And she claims that the audit will allow the government to avoid the larger problems of children with less severe needs.

"It's a deliberate attempt to hide the fact that many parents cannot access appropriate provision for their children," she said.

She is angry that the impression has been given that this audit will be an inclusive and thorough examination of the full range of services on offer.

The promise of an audit of the provision for pupils with special needs was written into Labour's education manifesto in April - as a way of establishing how services compared in different areas.

During the election campaign, a parent of a child with autism, Maria Hutchings, had highlighted concerns during a television broadcast when she confronted the prime minister about the closure of special schools.

Political agenda

Last week, special needs education again rose in the political agenda, as the Conservatives called for a halt to the closure of special schools and demanded that the audit be implemented.

SPECIAL NEEDS AUDIT multi-sensory impairments severe visual impairment severe/profound hearing impairment profound and multiple learning difficulties severe autistic spectrum disorders severe behavioural, emotional and social difficulties

Schools Minister Lord Adonis responded with an assurance that the audit was already underway - a promise given further prominence by the criticisms of the special needs education system by Baroness Warnock.

But Ms Maynard now says the detail of what will be audited will make it a pointless exercise - addressing only a very narrow section of special needs cases and delivering information which the government could readily obtain.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said there were no plans to widen the audit to provide a more comprehensive picture of special needs provision.

The Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron attacked the limited scale of the audit as a "letdown that makes no sense".

"It should be looking at the full range of special schools rather than just dealing with the most severely disabled. It is the schools looking after children with moderate learning difficulties that are being closed," said Mr Cameron.