The government consultation, special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first, revealed the critical role that speech and language therapy plays in supporting children with speech, language and communication needs.

Our reforms will ensure every child gets the right support at the right time. We are investing £1.8 billion in the new Experts at Hand offer, through which education settings will be able to access support from speech and language therapists (SaLTs). These experts will work directly with staff in education settings to equip them with the skills and strategies to better meet needs.

We are also investing £15 million to establish new SaLT advanced practitioners in every integrated care board area to support more SaLTs to work with educational settings, upskill speech and language support workers.

The government consultation, special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first, revealed the critical role that speech and language therapy plays in supporting children with speech, language and communication needs.

Our reforms will ensure every child gets the right support at the right time. We are investing £1.8 billion in the new Experts at Hand offer, through which education settings will be able to access support from speech and language therapists (SaLTs). These experts will work directly with staff in education settings to equip them with the skills and strategies to better meet needs.

We are also investing £15 million to establish new SaLT advanced practitioners in every integrated care board area to support more SaLTs to work with educational settings, upskill speech and language support workers.

All children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with Auditory Processing Disorder, deserve the best possible educational experience.

The department will develop National Inclusion Standards that set out evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with additional needs, before those needs escalate. Schools cannot deliver inclusion alone, and the department is working with the NHS to expand access to expert interventions and therapies by making better use of the specialist workforce. We are providing £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to work together to develop a new Experts at Hand offer in every local area. Through Experts at Hand, schools will have direct access to support, advice, training and specialist expertise from professionals such as speech and language therapists and specialist teachers.

For children and young people with complex needs, we are developing Specialist Provision Packages, which will deliver comprehensive, evidence-based support for children, across a range of needs, recognising where children and young people need more specialist provision. These packages will be developed by sector experts and tested with parents and professionals to provide a consistent, high-quality special educational needs and disabilities offer for children and young people.

All children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with Auditory Processing Disorder, deserve the best possible educational experience.

The department will develop National Inclusion Standards that set out evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with additional needs, before those needs escalate. Schools cannot deliver inclusion alone, and the department is working with the NHS to expand access to expert interventions and therapies by making better use of the specialist workforce. We are providing £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to work together to develop a new Experts at Hand offer in every local area. Through Experts at Hand, schools will have direct access to support, advice, training and specialist expertise from professionals such as speech and language therapists and specialist teachers.

For children and young people with complex needs, we are developing Specialist Provision Packages, which will deliver comprehensive, evidence-based support for children, across a range of needs, recognising where children and young people need more specialist provision. These packages will be developed by sector experts and tested with parents and professionals to provide a consistent, high-quality special educational needs and disabilities offer for children and young people.

We are working with experts nationally to develop new national inclusion standards and specialist provision packages and to set out how we want to see children supported in mainstream schools and specialist schools. I would be happy to discuss that further with the hon. Member.

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Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con):

My constituent, Joanna, has worked tirelessly to highlight the lack of a dedicated selective mutism pathway in West Sussex. Children are being left without the support they need, so will the Secretary of State commit to ensuring that this gap in provision is finally addressed?

The department recognises the importance of ensuring all health professionals (HPs) have appropriate experience, skills, and training to undertake Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments.

Assessment suppliers ensure that all HPs who carry out PIP assessments on behalf of the department receive comprehensive training in disability analysis. This includes training in the evaluation of how medical conditions affect claimants in their day-to-day activities, as well as awareness training in specific conditions. Suppliers are required to demonstrate that their HPs meet all our requirements before they are approved to carry out assessments on behalf of DWP.

PIP assessments focus on the impact of a person’s condition on their ability to carry out everyday activities, rather than the condition itself. HPs are therefore trained to assess the functional effects of a broad range of health conditions on an individual’s daily life.

The small number of qualified and regulated speech and language therapists undertaking assessments are required to meet the same training, qualification, and competency standards as all other health professionals carrying out PIP assessments on behalf of DWP.

The Government recognises that, for children and young people in distress or experiencing mental health difficulties, such as situational mutism, timely access to high-quality, early support is essential.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for Children and Young People Mental Health Services (CYPMH) in the Chichester constituency. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning CYPMH for local populations. In doing so, ICBs are expected to be evidence-based, by assessing and responding to the needs of their local communities, and to ensure services are provided equitably.

More widely, as prioritised in our Medium-Term Planning Framework, we are taking action to reduce the longest waits for specialist mental health support, tackling regional disparities, and expanding access, by making services more productive and reducing waiting times. Further to that, we are taking action to improve community mental health support, including through accelerating the rollout of mental health Support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and investing in hubs.

Finally, the new Mental Health Strategy for England will be published later this year. We have launched a Call for Evidence to inform the development of the strategy, which is open for eight weeks and will close on Friday 10 July.

Best Start Family Hubs focus on pregnancy and the early years,including the 1,001 critical days from conception to age 2,while also welcoming all families with older children up to age 19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). This includes children aged 2 and under at risk of developing speech, language and communication needs. They bring together health, parenting and early years services, backed by £900 million to deliver a strong universal and targeted offer.

Evidence shows that what happens at home is central to a child’s development and long-term life chances. Hubs offer accessible services such as stay and play sessions and play‑based early language activities, giving parents practical advice and guidance, building confidence and relationships, and supporting a rich home learning environment through warmth, play and everyday communication.

Each hub will have a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner (BSIP) to provide early support for children aged 0 to 5 with emerging needs, without need for a formal diagnosis. BSIPs work across hubs and outreach locations, collaborating with speech and language therapists and others to provide joined‑up support.

Initial teacher training (ITT) courses must encompass the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF) in full. The ITTECF sets out a minimum entitlement to training for all new teachers and, following a review, now contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including pupils with speech and language needs.

ITT providers must also ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the Teachers’ Standards, to be recommended for Qualified Teacher Status. The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, which includes those with speech and language challenges.

The department recognises the importance of continuous improvement and will be undertaking a full review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement, scheduled for 2027. This will focus on strengthening support for new teachers in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND and ensuring high-quality training provision.