Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resourcing of services for developmental language disorder.

The government is committed to ensuring that children and young people with speech, language and communication needs get the support they need. The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice makes clear that local authorities, educational institutions, and relevant others must appropriately identify the needs of their local area and ensure that appropriate support is available to meet those needs.

We have given £391 million to local areas to support implementation of the 2014 SEND reforms. Nationally, funding for children and young people has risen by £1 billion since 2013 to just under £6 billion this year. In Sheffield, the local authority will receive £54 million in high needs funding for 2018-19.

We are aware of the concerns of local authorities about high needs cost pressures. We are monitoring the drivers of these pressures, and looking at what can be done to help local authorities manage them.