Speech Therapy Services (Children) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Rehman Chishti
Main Page: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)Department Debates - View all Rehman Chishti's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years, 6 months ago)
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Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) on securing this debate on an important issue. I will apply the principle that brevity is a virtue and not a vice, and keep my remarks short. First, I would like to put things into context from a Medway perspective. Medway local authority has a good and close relationship with speech and language therapy teams. It has been working collaboratively to develop capacity so that teachers and school staff can address most speech and language needs in school. That frees up time for speech and language therapists to give direct therapy to the children with the most complex needs.
In the current financial climate, where budgets are so closely scrutinised, will the Minister tell us how the Green Paper will address the anomaly of local authorities being responsible for funding speech and language therapy that is diagnosed by health bodies and written in a statement? Will the forthcoming Green Paper provide for a focus of speech and language therapy in early years; for example, through a refocused Sure Start that targets children living in poverty?