Bercow Review: 'Grave concerns' over lack of progress on speech and language support
Gabriella Jozwiak
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Speech and language campaigners have expressed "grave concerns" that the government is failing to support many children with speech, language and communications needs (SLCN), 10 years after the landmark Bercow Review on the issue.
In its official response to the Bercow: Ten Years On report - a review of progress in provision for children and young people with SLCN in England in the last decade - the government set out actions it is taking to improve support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), such as the introduction of education, health and care (EHC) plans.
However, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and charity I CAN, which published the review in March this year, have pointed out that children with SLCN may not meet requirements for an EHC plan.
In a joint statement they said: "The RCSLT and I CAN have grave concerns that the government's actions will not cover the vast majority of children and young people (10 per cent) who have persistent long-term speech, language and communication needs.
"It is these children and young people who don't meet the threshold for an education and health care plan."
The Bercow: Ten Years On review found parents accessing support for SLCN had experienced little improvement over the past decade.
The original Bercow report published in 2008 found that 77 per cent of parents and carers said information on children and young people's SLCN was hard to obtain. The new report found slightly more parents and carers (78 per cent) felt that way.
It also found that the postcode lottery in SLCN support persists, with half of parents waiting more than six months before their child gets the help they need.
The report blamed the lack of progress on cuts to services, the removal of speaking and listening from the national curriculum, and communication no longer being a judgment within Ofsted inspections.
Following the government's response, the SLCN organisations called for better collaboration between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education "to ensure joint commissioning is meeting the needs of these children".
"This should include specialist speech, language and communication support to children with long-term communication difficulties," they said.
In the response, children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi and care minister Caroline Dinenage said "a lot" of progress had been made since the first Bercow report had been published.
It pointed out that SEND reforms included in the 2014 Children and Families Act had meant Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission had begun inspecting local areas on their effectiveness in meeting new SEND duties.
It also detailed plans for a summit the government would hold in in the autumn to "explore innovative ways to boost early language development and reading in the home".
"The government is determined to do what it can to help put in place the right framework of support to ensure these children and young people get the support they need," it said.
An estimated 1.4 million children and young people in the UK have SLCN.
