Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists's report, Building back better: Speech and language therapy services after covid-19, published 16 March 2021, what steps he is taking to ensure that speech and language therapy services in the most deprived areas are adequately resourced to support children and young people who have developed a higher level of need as a result of delays in identification and reduced support during the covid-19 outbreak.

As part of COVID-19 recovery plan we are looking carefully at how we can support disabled children and their families, including those with speech and language needs, across the country, including in the most deprived areas. We are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services to disabled children.