Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference the June 2019 report of the Children’s Commissioner, We need to talk: access to speech and language therapy, if he will meet with the Local Government Association to discuss the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of that report.

We are committed to ensuring more effective support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Ministers from the Department for Education (DfE) regularly meet with local government to discuss issues relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including SLCN.

On 20 May 2019, we held the first SEND ministerial roundtable meeting between ministers from the DfE, Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and key SEND stakeholders to help inform future SEND policy. We will also be using these meetings to help inform the SEND System Leadership Board which aims to improve joint working and strategic commissioning for all children and young people with SEND, including those with SLCN.

On 20 June 2019, the government issued a letter to I CAN and The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. That letter responded to the Bercow One Year Anniversary update report, and was co-signed by ministers from the DfE, DHSC and the Ministry of Justice. The letter reaffirms our commitment to supporting children and young people with SLCN, and sets out the key action the government is taking to address SLCN. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.