The Liberal Democrats' Baroness Walmsley asked schools minister Lord Adonis how many speech and language professionals were in place in children's centres and how many have advanced plans to have them.
Lord Adonis said there was 'no breakdown of the figures by location', but with plans to increase the number of children's centres to 2,500 in 2008 and to 3,500 by 2010, he said, 'we would expect to see steadily more speech and language therapists employed therein'.
He added, 'It is the responsibility of local children's trusts, which bring together the local authority, the education service and the local NHS, to plan that provision locality by locality.'
But Liz Attenborough, manager of Talk To Your Baby, the National Literacy Trust's early language initiative, which is calling for greater investment in speech and language therapy services for the early years, said, 'It needs more than hoping that children's centres will have the staff in place. It's an essential preventative measure.
'In too many places there are long waiting lists for therapy, as health budget cuts are not in step with educational needs. This means that too many vulnerable children are not getting the help they need at the start of their educational career.'
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) said that local NHS cut-backs are threatening vital speech and language therapy services.
Jane Mackenzie, policy officer for England, said, 'Primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are seeking short-term financial savings at the expense of delivering the service children and adults desperately need.'
The RCSLT said that the Government predicts that it will be more than ten years until there are enough speech and language therapists to meet the needs of local communities. But research undertaken by the RCSLT in July found that funding cuts at local level mean that eight out of ten newly-trained therapists cannot find jobs.
