Question reference: S2W-32454
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 16 March 2007
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Current status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 March 2007
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will assess the impact of young people in secondary schools and in the justice system receiving speech and language therapy, in light of evidence in 2003 that 26% of young men at HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont had clinically significant communication impairment and 70% of young offenders had difficulties with literacy and numeracy and given that support with improving oral language skills has been shown to reduce recidivism rates by up to 50%.
Answer
It is for NHS boards and local authoritiesto determine levels of service provision based on local needs.
Offenders in HM Prison Polmont are currently assessed foreducational need based on a literacy and numeracy alerting tool which is usedon induction. Depending on the outcome of this assessment, a more detailedassessment may be undertaken to establish levels of attainment and need inliteracy and numeracy.