Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have implemented the recommendations of the Save the Children 2016 report The Lost Boys; and if not, whether they plan to do so.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Lost Boys report recommended for the government to invest in the best early education and childcare provision.
Alongside setting high standards and requirements for all early years providers in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, in March, the government announced the single biggest investment in childcare ever made in England, which means by 2027/28 this government expects to be spending more than £8 billion every year on the early years. This will result in an historic expansion of free childcare, with 15 free hours available for working parents of two-year-olds from April 2024, 15 free hours from nine months to the start of school available from September 2024, rising to 30 free hours from September 2025. From September, the hourly rates paid to providers to deliver free childcare for two-year-olds will increase by 30% from an average rate of £6 to £8. This represents a significant increase in funding for early years.
The government is also investing up to £180 million in workforce training, qualifications, expert guidance and targeted support for the early years sector, to support the learning and development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children. This includes the Professional Development Programme, phase 3, training up to 10,000 early years professionals and providing early years practitioners with training on communication and language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development.
Two-thirds of primary schools have benefitted from our investment in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the speech and language skills of an estimated 90,000 children in reception classes so far. Over 320,000 primary school children have been screened to identify those with language development difficulties. These children will receive targeted language support.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on creating a free school in Portsmouth for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Wymering School in Portsmouth is due to open to pupils on 17 April 2023. This new special school will provide 66 places for pupils between 9 and 16 with social communication and interaction difficulties, associated speech, language and communication needs (neurodiverse profile) and high levels of anxiety and/or associated distressed behaviour.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to Family Hubs on identifying and supporting children with speech and language difficulties.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
At the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the government announced a package of around £300 million to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of upper tier local authorities across England. An additional £28.7 million has been made available to these 75 local authorities to improve young children’s home learning environments, helping them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The department has published guidance setting out the expectations of local authorities receiving a share of the funding, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide. These expectations include supporting parents and carers to access fast and effective support for their child’s speech and language needs, including through multi-agency pathways, which are co-designed with the local speech and language service through the family hub network.
The government also published guidance in 2020 to help local areas improve speech, language, and communication in the early years. This includes an Early Language Identification Measure and Intervention tool for use with children aged 2 to 2 and a half. This guidance is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-speech-language-and-communication.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the proposed SEND and Alternative Provision Green Papers on support for children with speech and language difficulties.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper set out a whole system review, looking at how the department can improve the SEND system for every child and young person, no matter their specific need or condition.
The department’s vision for children and young people with SEND, including those with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN), is the same as it is for all children and young people. The department wants children with SEND to achieve well in their early years, at school, and in further education. Early this year, we will publish a SEND and AP Improvement Plan, confirming plans over the proposals contained in the Green Paper. This will include details on new SEND and AP National Standards, which aim to set clear and ambitious expectations about identifying and meeting needs, including for SLCN.
In addition, the department is investing £17 million to deliver the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme. The programme supports children in reception with their language skills. In total, over 11,100 schools, or two thirds of all primary schools, are taking part in this proven, evidence-based programme, benefitting around 90,000 children most in need of language support. Registered schools are eligible to continue to receive the funded programme during the 2022/23 academic year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide further speech and language support in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government recognises the importance of speech and language in pupils’ development. The Department has invested £17 million to deliver the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme, which supports children in reception with their language. Over two thirds of eligible mainstream primary schools are taking part in this programme. This benefits around 90,000 children most in need of language support.
The Department has committed £24 million to boost literacy in schools this academic year. The majority of this funding will be distributed via the English Hubs Programme. Providing support for early language is one of the founding aims of the English Hub Programme and in January 2023, the Hubs will begin delivering a new early language support to schools, which has been designed by Hubs and external experts.
In July 2021, the Department published 'The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy', for teachers and school leaders. The document focuses on the early stages in the teaching of reading, and the contribution of talk and stories, in addition to phonics. It advises that teachers help children articulate their ideas in well-formed sentences, by scaffolding, extending, and developing their ideas.
The Department’s new National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy and National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership launched in October 2022. Developing pupils’ language capability and wider understanding of language to support their studies, is a key element of both qualifications, including how to identify pupils whose language learning difficulties might impact on their ability to understand the curriculum.
The Department also knows that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) frequently require additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health and care, including speech and language therapists. The Department is already taking steps to increase the capacity of the specialist workforce, as set out in the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's announcement of £50 million to help tackle health inequalities through research on 11 October 2022, how much of that funding will be made available to research the links between (a) speech, language and communication needs and health inequalities and (b) difficulties with eating, drinking and swallowing and health inequalities.
Answered by Will Quince
The funding for Health Determinants Research Collaborations has been awarded to 10 local authority areas for research to support evidence-based decision-making within local government. While the funding is not ring-fenced for specific topics, it will enable these areas to undertake and evaluate research to address issues relevant to the local population.
Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pre-reception and post-reception children can recover their ability to speak and understand language during the covid-19 recovery.
Answered by Will Quince
In total, the department has announced almost £5 billion for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.
As part of education recovery, the department is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector. Strengthening understanding of speech and language development is an important part of this support.
The recovery includes investing in continuous professional development for early years practitioners, through the national expansion of the early years Professional Development Programme, which has a focus on upskilling practitioners to support the early development of literacy and language and early mathematics, alongside personal, social, and emotional development. The department is also investing over £24 million for local authorities to select and train early years practitioners in the best programmes to support parents with the home learning environment. This aims to improve children’s early language and social and emotional development, giving priority to families that will benefit the most.
Additionally, the department is investing £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development. We are also increasing the number of qualified special educational needs coordinators in early years settings.
The Recovery Premium, providing £1.3 billion for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of the pupil premium. However, school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties. Schools can use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.
The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the department’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1 billion allocated to schools as part of the Recovery Premium will be spent to help children’s speech and language.
Answered by Will Quince
The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.
Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.
Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.
We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:
The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the Recovery Premium benefit children with a speech and language difficulty or whose development in speaking and understanding language has been adversely affected as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and associated schools closures.
Answered by Will Quince
The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.
Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.
Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.
We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:
The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to mark Swallowing Awareness Day on 16 March.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
While the Department has no specific plans to mark Swallowing Awareness Day, we recognise the importance of raising awareness of the impact that swallowing difficulties. Speech and Language Therapists can provide support to enable people to manage and recover their ability to swallow.