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Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders

Asked by Mr Lee DillonLiberal DemocratDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 15 December 2025UIN 97645

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of early interventions in speech and language support.

Answered by Olivia Bailey

The potential merits of focusing on early intervention in providing speech and language support are clear. That is why we have invested in the Early Language Support for Every Child programme, and the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, both of which support children with their speech and language.

We are funding Family Hubs to train practitioners to support families with the home learning environment to help parents support children’s speech and communication.

We will fund local early language leads to provide training to early years settings. Reception staff will also be able to access early language and literacy support.

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