Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Bumper £24 million to boost children’s literacy, published on 9 October 2022, whether that funding will be used to support children's speech and language skills.

The Government has committed £24 million to boost literacy in schools in the 2022/23 academic year. The majority of this funding will be distributed via the English Hubs programme.

The focus in the first two years of the programme has been on phonics teaching, with early language and reading for pleasure as secondary aims. In the third and fourth delivery year, English Hubs continue to focus on systematic synthetic phonics. A number of English Hubs have already started to deliver support in all three priority areas, including early language. In January 2023, the Hubs will begin delivering new early language training to schools, which has been designed by Hubs and external experts.