§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children have been identified as requiring speech therapy in the city of Newcastle in each of the last five years;
(2) what has been the average waiting time, for each of the last five years, for children in the city of Newcastle waiting to receive speech therapy from the point at which speech therapy is recommended to the date at which treatment commences.
§ Mr. BowisThe information requested is not available centrally. However, for children aged 15 or under in Newcastle, 670 new episodes of speech therapy treatment were started in 1989–90, 695 in 1990–91 and 727 in 1991–92.