Debate contribution: Speech and Language Therapy: Criminal Justice System

Debate contribution by Mrs Ciara Ferguson on 20 February 2024.

MLA

Mrs Ciara Ferguson

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

20 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Speech and Language Therapy: Criminal Justice System

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4380824

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I support the motion and thank the Members for bringing it forward.

First, as others have mentioned, this is an opportunity to commend the work of our Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. We have over 700 committed professionals who work in the field in the North, and they do the vital work of supporting our most vulnerable children, young people and adults who have speech and language communication delays and difficulties.

Sinn Féin recognises and very much values the important role that speech and language therapists play not only in our justice system but in our schools, our local communities and our health service. I have been fortunate enough to work closely, particularly in the communities, with our speech and language therapists to support the early years through our Sure Start programmes that provide language-rich environments to support our young people in the development of their communication skills. Speech and language obviously underpins everything that we all do. Just imagine your life if you struggled to express your needs to others, to express your likes and dislikes, to interact with others, to build relationships, to learn in school and to understand and control your emotions and feelings. Unfortunately, for so many, that is still the case today. We are aware that speech, language and communication needs are often hidden difficulties. Instead of communication difficulties being identified and supported, the person may be seen as someone who struggles to learn, needs to improve their behaviour or is just difficult, does not like socialising and is withdrawn. People with speech, language and communication needs can be misinterpreted, misdiagnosed and missed altogether in our neighbourhoods and communities. The Department of Health workforce review 2019-2029 reiterated that:

"unsupported, speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) can have long-term implications for educational attainment, employment, social inclusion ... mental health and involvement with the justice system."

In the justice service, we have continuous research that shows a prevalence of up to 60% of young offenders who have low language skills at a poor or very poor level. A lot more needs to be done. Too many of our people with communication needs are being overlooked. A National Institute of Health and Care Research report in February 2021 found that young offenders with undiagnosed language problems are twice as likely to reoffend within a year. There are huge gaps, but there is also some great work being done by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists — for example, The Box, which is a free e-learning package designed to support people working in the justice system, such as the offenders team, the Probation Board, prison staff, the police and other professionals in our court system such as judges, barristers and solicitors. I welcomed the appointment by the Minister of a speech and language therapist in the Prison Service in 2018, but it is not enough. As a previous Member mentioned — it is pertinent — we need to look for solutions. One key solution is that the speech and language therapy degree that is currently located in the Ulster University in Derry could be expanded. There is a shortage of therapists, and we should call on our Health Minister to work with the Executive to increase places at the Magee campus. As was mentioned, there are 28 commissioned undergraduate SLT places at the Ulster University, but there were over 700 applications in 2023-24. Obviously, there is a clear need, and a lot of young, educated people in the North are keen to invest in the service. We need to explore alternative routes to pursue a career. Speech and language therapists and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists have recommended the exploration of an apprenticeship scheme to train additional SLTs. We all recognise that we must commit to work together to ensure that anyone with communication difficulties or a disability has a right to expect and receive specialist support in our criminal justice system and ensure, most of all, continuity of care. We should ensure, particularly for young people and adults, screening of their speech, language and communication needs when they come into contact with the criminal justice system; it is imperative. It is also imperative that we provide support to train staff to recognise and support those —

— with needs. Finally, on tailored programmes and intervention, we need to ensure that our people can benefit from rehabilitation programmes.

736 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:40 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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