Auditory Verbal Therapy

Kirith Entwistle Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) on securing this important debate. We come together today with a shared purpose to champion equity, opportunity and the unshakeable belief that every child deserves the best possible start in life. This debate is about more than a single policy; it is about ensuring that no family feels left behind when it comes to their deaf children’s future.

Some 65% of deaf children complete their first year of school without achieving a good level of development. That is not just a statistic: it is a rallying cry that demands urgent action. Why is this happening? The National Deaf Children’s Society offers a stark insight: we are failing to assess and invest in the right primary support mechanisms for each deaf child. That failure is a systemic one and strikes at the most crucial time, the early years, when the foundations of language and communication are laid.

The Deafness Resource Centre is clear that early childhood development is deeply social and emotional, thriving on successful interactions with caregivers. By failing to provide tailored support to deaf children, we risk leaving many feeling isolated, frustrated and deprived of the sense of belonging that every child deserves. I am deeply grateful that one such primary support mechanism, auditory verbal therapy, is being recognised here today. I am deeply grateful that one such primary support mechanism, auditory verbal therapy, is being recognised here today. For so many families it is truly transformative—the proof is here in this room—and I commend my hon. Friend for her unwavering commitment to improving its provision.

Let us be clear, auditory verbal therapy is not a silver bullet. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Every deaf child is unique, and so are their needs. Auditory verbal therapy is incredibly important, but I want to take a moment to emphasise the importance of addressing each child’s needs, case by case. Picture this: a deaf child in a deaf family, thriving in a sign-first environment where British Sign Language nurtures heartfelt, seamless connections with their loved ones. Now imagine another child, their confidence flourishing through intensive auditory verbal therapy. Both scenarios are valid and beautiful. What truly matters is meeting the unique needs of each child, guided by expert assessment.

Bolton Deaf Society, located in my constituency, is a charity I am deeply proud to represent and support in Parliament. Its work serves as a beacon of hope and heritage for deaf children and their families. It champions deaf culture, celebrates British Sign Language and recognises that oral communication is not, and should never need to be, for everyone. Although auditory verbal therapy can be life-changing, there are many in the deaf, deafened and hard-of-hearing community in Bolton who would not choose it, even if it were readily available. For some families auditory verbal therapy is tied to the medical model of disability, a framing that implies hearing loss as something to fix, potentially sidelining deaf culture, identity and pride. For other families, like many we have heard about today, that is not the case.

For the families in Bolton who are seeking auditory verbal therapy for their child, I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South that we must urgently train more specialist practitioners to extend access. In Bolton alone, there are more than 300 deaf children; across the north-west, that number rises to 6,000, yet there are just five certified auditory verbal therapists in our region. Right now, as my hon. Friend mentioned, a postcode lottery determines whether a family can access the support that their child needs. That is not equity or fairness; it is a failure that we must urgently address. Deaf children in Bolton deserve better.

I strongly urge the Minister to expand access to AVT across the north-west. More than that, I urge him to expand access to primary support mechanisms across the board. Success lies in providing a well-funded, comprehensive, holistic system of support, ensuring that every child can thrive in a way that fits them best. I sincerely hope the Minister agrees.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Kirith Entwistle Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 26th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

I declare that I am a member of the responsible vaping APPG. This is a long overdue and important piece of legislation, and I commend my hon. and right hon. Friends on the Front Bench for bringing it before the House.

My home of Bolton is confronting a dual crisis: the devastating impact of smoking and the escalating problem of youth vaping. Smoking continues to ruin lives and places a heavy burden on our NHS, which many of my hon. Friends and hon. Members from across the House have also mentioned. In Bolton North East, the crisis is deeply personal. More than 14% of our population still smoke, which is well above the national average. Tragically, between 2017 and 2019, smoking claimed the lives of 1,147 people in our community, including beloved parents, siblings and friends, leaving behind grieving families and stolen futures. Beyond its devastating human toll, smoking imposes an immense economic burden on Bolton North East. Nearly £100 million is drained every year in lost productivity and increased demands on health and social care. We desperately need that money to rebuild services and support local families.

I am proud that the Bill takes critical steps to address the harms of smoking and works towards creating the first smokefree generation. Yet while smoking is a crisis we know well, there is a new and growing threat: the epidemic of child vaping. In the latest Greater Manchester: Testing and Research on Emergent and New Drugs young person survey, 76% of respondents reported using a nicotine vape in the past year. Schoolchildren are now twice as likely to encounter nicotine through vaping as through cigarettes or tobacco. Flavours such as bubble gum and rainbow candy paired with colourful, cartoon-like packaging are blatantly targeting children.

Flavourings play an undoubtedly important role in helping adults to quit smoking, but we must be honest about how too many vapes are being deliberately designed as a gateway to nicotine for children who have never smoked. I welcome the measures included in the Bill outlined by the Secretary of State earlier, and I am pleased to see our Government taking the issue seriously. As a mother, I look forward to further discussions on how we can protect our children while continuing to support adults who are using vaping as a tool to quit smoking.

What concerns me most is how easily young people can obtain vapes, many of which are illegal and unregulated. In Bolton, we now have the second highest number of vape stores per capita in the country. That is more than twice the national average. Although most stores operate within the law, this widespread availability creates opportunities for illegal vapes to enter the market—vapes that violate safety standards, contain unsafe ingredients and pose serious health risks to our children.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

Does the hon. Lady share my concern that there is a real problem with vapes being used in the coercion of children for grooming purposes as well?

[Kirith Entwistle]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and, yes, I share those concerns quite deeply.

Bolton council has been doing excellent work to clamp down on illegal vapes. In September, 350 vapes were seized in raids across five locations in Bolton. Just this month, a shop received a closure order for selling illegal tobacco and vapes. I am pleased that this Bill responds to the needs of councils such as Bolton by introducing new powers for trading standards officers that will tackle the black market while protecting legitimate businesses.

The Bill is a commitment to the health and wellbeing of our communities and our future generations. It takes into account the need for the safeguarding of our children. For the families who have lost loved ones to smoking-related illnesses, for the schools that have been overwhelmed by the vaping epidemic, and for the young people being targeted by unscrupulous marketing, this Bill is for them and I commend it to the House.