Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the joint commissioning with clinical commissioning groups of speech and language therapy.

The Department for Education has not issued specific guidance on joint commissioning for speech and language therapy. Chapter three of the 0 – 25 Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2015 provides guidance on working together for joint outcomes which includes guidance on joint commissioning. The department worked closely with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists when developing the guidance. The Royal College also issued its own guidance to speech and language therapists on the new duties placed on health partners by the Children and Families Act 2014.

More broadly, the department has contributed to guidance and resources on joint commissioning provided by the Council for Disabled Children, the National Development Team for Inclusion and Mott Macdonald.