SAFEGUARDING SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY

Early day motion 2296, tabled 20 October 2011 by Jim Cunningham (Labour). Signed by 32 members.

That this House welcomes the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' Giving Voice campaign to safeguard speech and language therapy services; recognises that speech and language therapy transforms lives and enables people to participate in society; notes that speech and language therapy plays a vital role in health, education, social care and criminal justice; further notes that a leading economic consultancy report found that speech and language therapy delivers a net benefit to the UK economy of 765 million; further notes with concern that the restructuring of the NHS has already resulted in a worrying reduction of clinical leadership posts; further notes that there are potential job losses in Coventry and across the UK; believes that the structuring of services across health, education and social care make them more vulnerable to cuts; and calls on the Government to safeguard access to speech and language therapy services for those who need it in Coventry and across the UK.

Signatures by party: Labour 20, Liberal Democrat 4, DUP 3, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Conservative 1.