Speeches by Craft.

“Is there a planned target for those who are most in need of this kind of therapy? There is quite a lot of evidence around disadvantaged communities not necessarily accessing some of the support that people in a higher economic bracket will access. Is there a plan for how will that will be targeted, or is the idea to ro…”

“I want to touch more on the wider early years workforce. I was wondering what kind of plans you have in place to make sure that the expertise of specific professions, such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy, is best deployed, and when the interventions in that space are best deliver…”

“Yes; to access a bunch of these services, you need a diagnosis or a referral, and we have been hearing again and again from professionals in this space that they spend a lot of their time not being able to do the kind of dedicated work that they want to do, because they are dealing with that referral process. Speech an…”

“We have heard it is also quite crucial for retention, because it allows professionals to do the job that they have entered the profession to do. That has been quite useful. To touch on the issue of recruitment, there are obvious workforce shortages, not just in early years, but across the NHS. One specific area is spee…”

“Will the workforce plan reflect the rising level of demand? There has been a significant uptick in demand across the piece for speech and language, OT, physio and all those early years services. Or will there be an aim to reduce some of that acute demand, as opposed to meeting that demand via recruitment?”

“I want to follow on with another question about family hubs, you will be unsurprised to hear, specifically looking at speech and language development. We had a very interesting session focusing on that area. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists noted in its written evidence—and this was picked up during …”

“But the RCSLT did specifically pick up on the current guidance for early language and home-learning environment funding. In the 2022 to 2025 period, it could cover only three to four-year-olds and up, and that was extended to cover two to three-year-olds for 2025-26. They ask for that funding be able to be used from bi…”

“Thank you. Looking specifically at the first 1,001 days, what is the offer around speech and language therapies and interventions in the nought to two-year-old category,? The Committee visited Blackpool, where they have an extended health visitor programme. I am not going to get ahead of Andrew, who I think is going to…”

“Thank you, Chair, for giving me a little time to speak about why I have requested this debate. One would hope that it goes without saying that we are an island nation. Like many Members, I have a port in my constituency, and it provides a significant amount of employment for local people, but it also provides a lot of …”

“Thanks for mentioning that you are a teacher. I don’t think I knew that about you—I don’t think any of us was aware of that. [Laughter.] The debate encompasses all seafarers—a seafarer being someone who goes to sea. Interestingly, in my patch, we have mainly merchant navy, but we also have a cruise terminal, so cruise …”

“I imagine it would be Transport.”

“I very much appreciate my hon. Friend giving way again. Does he agree that when you go somewhere and you are unable to access adequate facilities to change your child, the message that is sent to you and your family is, “You are not welcome here. We do not want you.”? Conversely, when you go somewhere that has a Changi…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“I want to add a personal note of thanks to my hon. Friend for being such an outstanding advocate for families such as ours. We share a strong union on that point. Does he agree that it is not enough just to have a Changing Places facility, because it is also important for staff in those areas to have had training so th…”

“Last Friday I brought together GPs, housing developers, the local authority, the ICB, and anyone else you care to name, to try finally to solve the issue of our having one of the most under-doctored areas in the country for primary care. Among the many issues raised was a particularly niche one: thanks to NHS Property …”

“On Friday I had the privilege of spending a good few hours with SEND parents in my constituency, talking about what does not work under the current system and what we would like to see changed. There was a lot of frustration and a lot of tears. They were honest and open about their upset at the current system, but ther…”

“Is there an assessment of the risk of delays on the fundamental reform of the dental contract to the various parts of the 10-year plan relating to dentistry? Again, tie-ins come into it. What is your thinking? If the reform does not come forward in a timely manner, what is your thinking about the impact that that will …”

“Thank you for joining us today, Minister. I would like to return briefly to the tie-in policy. I wondered whether you would assess the potential risk of delays to reforming the dental contract on this policy and wider policies in the 10-year plan as well.”

“I appreciate your previous response. I would perhaps press on the fact that we heard in the previous panel from members of the dental profession, including the chair of the BDA, and their feeling that came across fairly clearly was that while they were very appreciative of some of the parts of the ten-year plan and the…”

“I hear what you are saying on this, but there has only been one phrase in there that could be taken to be an indication of a timeline, which is to have the spending review envelope finalised by summer. I think what the previous panel is looking for is an indication of when they will see that timeline. I am sure you can…”