Jen Craft

I refer my hon. Friend for Thurrock to the answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 4162.

I refer my hon. Friend for Thurrock to the answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 4162.

Early language skills are vital to enable children to thrive in the early years and later in life, including for all aspects of later attainment in school.

To support these vital skills, the department has funded settings to undertake evidence-based continuous professional development programmes as part of the Early Years Education Recovery Programme, including those focused on speech, language and communication, via a national network of Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs. The Early Years Professional Development Programme phase 3 (PDP3) provides early years educators with training on communication and language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. The programme was designed to ensure early years educators have the skills they need to support young children’s development in the areas that can make a significant difference to long term development and attainment, helping to strengthen children’s foundations for learning and enable them to be school-ready by the time they reach reception.

We have also invested over £20 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

The evaluation of NELI delivery and impact since 2020, which was published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in September 2023, shows outstanding results. The evaluation evidences the programme improved the development of oral language skills by four months’ progress for pupils receiving the intervention. Children eligible for free school meals (FSM) made seven months’ additional progress compared to children eligible for FSM that did not receive the intervention. The EEF evaluation can be found here:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/nuffield-early-language-intervention-neli#:~:text=In%20September%202023%2C%20the%20impact,took%20part%20in%20the%20evaluation.

In addition to this work, and in partnership with NHS England, the department is funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders within the Change Programme. The project funds Integrated Care Boards to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings.

The government has taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, every state funded school in England with primary-aged pupils will offer a breakfast club. This includes special schools and alternative provision. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a breakfast club programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from summer term 2025. Special schools and alternative provision schools were invited to take part in the early adopter scheme. The selected schools will be announced in due course. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils, starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout. This will include testing approaches to supporting children with SEND.

The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special schools and alternative provision. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.

We want a National Health Service that is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it; one in which access to and experience of healthcare services is equitable, effective and responsive. To help achieve this, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The engagement process for the 10-Year Health Plan is underway, and as we work to develop and finalise the Plan, we are encouraging those concerned about access to services for disabled people to engage with that process so we can identify what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. To make it easier for disabled people to use health services, there is work underway in NHS England to ensure that staff in health settings know if they need to make reasonable adjustments. This includes the development of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient, and their reasonable adjustment needs, in health records to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.

Since 2016, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. A revised AIS is being reviewed with a view to publication, and in the meantime, NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

To make it easier for disabled people to use health services, there is work underway in NHS England to make sure that staff in health settings know if they need to make reasonable adjustments for people. This includes the development of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient, and their reasonable adjustment needs, in health records to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, Care Quality Commission registered health and adult social care providers are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care and help to reduce health inequalities for autistic people and people with a learning disability. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is being rolled out to support this. Over two million people have completed the first part of this training.

Being on the learning disability register is crucial to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time, including access to annual health checks. Annual health checks can help to identify undetected health conditions early and ensure the appropriateness of ongoing treatments. People over 14 years old with a learning disability can receive an annual health check.