Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children were receiving auditory verbal therapy in England as of 6 October 2023; if his Department will make an estimate of the number of deaf children in England who might benefit from such therapy; if his Department will make an assessment of the (a) accessibility of auditory verbal therapy to deaf children through the NHS and (b) potential social return on further investment in that therapy; and whether his Department has plans to provide investment to train an additional 300 specialist therapists as recommended by Auditory Verbal UK.

Data regarding the number of children receiving Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) in England is not held centrally. According to the National Deaf Children’s Society, there are over 50,000 deaf children in England. There are currently no plans to make an estimate of the number of deaf children in England who could benefit from AVT. Similarly, there are currently no plans to assess the accessibility of AVT for deaf children through the NHS or the potential social return on further investment in this therapy.

‘Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A Framework for Clinical Commissioning Groups’ was published in July 2016. This framework supports CCGs (and now integrated care boards) to make informed decisions about what is good value for the populations they serve and provide more consistent, high quality, integrated care. It also addresses inequalities in access and outcomes between hearing services.

There are also no plans currently to provide specific investment in training Auditory Verbal therapists. However, we recognise the need to improve access to therapies generally. Since September 2020, all eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. Additional funding is also available for studying certain courses – for example, Mental Health Nursing and Learning Disabilities Nursing - with further financial support available to students for childcare, dual accommodation costs and travel.