Bercow Interim Report

Bercow Report

A Review of Services for Children and Young People (0–19) with Speech,
Language and Communication Needs (2008)


Between April 2006 and July 2007, in speeches and Parliamentary Questions, John Bercow MP raised the issue of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs over 20 times with ministers responsible for the subject.
Towards the end of August 2007, the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, and the newly
appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, asked John Bercow MP if he would be willing to lead a review of provision and to suggest a way forward.

They agreed to concentrate on three key issues:

1. 
   The range and composition of services required to meet the diverse speech, language and
   communication needs of children and young people aged 0 to 19 in an affordable way.
2. 
   How planning and performance management arrangements, together with better cooperation
   nationally and locally between health and education services, can spur beneficial
   early intervention.
3. 
   What examples of best practice can be identified as templates for the wider roll-out of
   services across the country.
   

An interim report was to be submitted to Ed Balls and to the Secretary of State for Health, Alan
Johnson, in March 2008. This would be followed by a final report to both Secretaries of State in
July 2008.
By the middle of September, the Review’s Advisory Group was in place and a work programme
was agreed. Officials from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the
Department of Health were put at the Review Group’s disposal. (Bercow Interim Report 2008)

The full report can be seen at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/bercowreview/docs/7771-DCSF-BERCOW.PDF

It is from this document that I have gained a great deal of understanding of the nature of communication and the need for greater use of communication provision to aid those least able to communicate. It is also the initial source for the following phrases:

• Communication is at the core of all social interaction
• For some children and young people, acquiring the ability to communicate is a difficult and ongoing challenge
• Communication is a key life skill
• Communication is a fundamental human right
• One of the most common symptoms of autism is difficulty communicating.

Also a source for communicating difficulties is the The National Autistic Society http://www.nas.org.uk/ this site outlines the need for the Bercow Report and the need for better provision and greater unity of provision deliverers.