Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made in reducing waiting times for (a) speech and language therapy services and (b) neurodevelopmental services.

The Department and NHS England are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services. This includes improving access to Speech and Language Therapy through the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) pathfinder project within the Department for Education’s existing £70 million Change Programme in partnership with NHS England. The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings to increase their ability to support speech, language, and communication development.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched into challenges in ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.