Ask the Prime Minister to champion speech and language therapy in the Autumn Budget

The Invest in SLT campaign, which is led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (the RCSLT) and the advocate and campaigner Mikey Akers MBE, wrote to Andy Burnham soon after he was appointed Prime Minister.

Reminding him of his pledge to work with us to improve access to speech and language therapy for people of all ages, we asked him to work with us to:

• address workforce shortages and ensure there are enough speech and language therapists to meet demand;
• improve access to services and reduce inequalities across the country;
• reduce waiting times for people who need support; and
• deliver better outcomes for children, adults, and their families, while reducing pressure on the NHS and other public services.

The need for action is clear. Too many people are waiting too long for speech and language therapy, while services face significant workforce pressures. This can have a lasting impact on children's education, people's ability to work, recovery from illness, and people's independence.

Please take a few minutes to contact the Prime Minister and ask him to champion speech and language therapy in the Autumn Budget.

Please note, under the signature box on the e-action is a box where you have to do a validation calculation to show you're an actual person.

If you are a speech and language therapist, before using this e-action, check if your employer has any guidance on engaging with politicians. This may affect what you can do in work time, including, for example, whether you can contact the Prime Minister using your work email address, or whether you have to use your personal email address as you can contacting him in a personal capacity.

For further background, you can read the RCSLT's submission on the Budget:

https://www.rcslt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/RCSLT-Autumn-Budget-submission-September-2026.pdf