HC Deb 19 June 1973 vol 858 cc362-3
18. Mr. Sydney Chapman

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of speech therapists, including part-timers expressed as a decimal, employed in the City of Birmingham; how this figure compares with that for two years before; and what plans there are for any increase.

Mr. Alison

By hospital authorities 8.1 and by the education authority 4.8; and I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science that three more are due to take up their appointments shortly. Figures for 1971 were 8.1 and 9.4 for the hospital and education services respectively. Recruitment in particular localities is a matter for the individual authorities. The general need for more speech therapists is one of the recommendations in the Quirk Report currently under consideration.

Mr. Chapman

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. I appreciate that there are competing demands on the social and educational services, but does not my right hon. Friend agree that one important problem in the so-called socially deprived areas is getting at what specialists call the under-functioning children? Is not there a prior claim for this sort of expense on the social services?

Mr. Alison

We readily admit that the figures of shortfall indicated by the Quirk Report represent a considerable need, and we certainly support the efforts that are being made to increase the numbers coming through from the schools. We hope to see a substantial improvement within the Quirk 20-year period.

Mr. Edwin Wainwright

Does the Minister realise that the future of many thousands of people depends upon the availability of speech therapists? Is he aware of the great shortage of speech therapists throughout the country? Will he say something about the future of people who are suffering from loss of speech due to brain injury, of whom there are a great many?

Mr. Alison

I repeat to the hon. Gentleman what I said to my hon. Friend. We readily admit that, as the Quirk Report shows, we are short of speech therapists. Following the publication of the report we are considering, in consultation with interested parties, what we should do to try to increase the number of speech therapists.