Conservative MP John Bercow, a long-standing supporter of the Michael Palin Centre for stammering children in EC1, will work with the Government to improve care for children with speech and language needs, Gordon Brown has announced today.
Local MP Emily Thornberry has welcomed the appointment. She said:
"John Bercow has had a long-standing commitment to improving services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. This is above party politics - John is respected by members of both the Labour and Conservative parties for his valuable work."
Earlier this year, John Bercow joined Emily in visiting the Michael Palin Centre, and over the last year the two MPs have worked together to help improve the funding arrangements for the centre.
Recent changes have made it harder for children who live outside Islington to get the funding they need to make use of the specialist facility. Emily has called on London health bosses to ensure that Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) across London can refer their local children to this specialist centre and raised the issue in Parliament. Mr Bercow has questioned the Minister for Children in the House of Commons about providing central pots of funding to parents who want to make use of this service.
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