Speech and language therapy services to multilingual children in Scotland and England: A comparison of three cities INEKE MENNEN 1 & JOIS STANSFIELD 2 1 Speech and Language Sciences, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, UK, and 2 Department of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK Abstract This study investigates current speech and language therapy services for multilingual children in three cities in the UK, and examines whether an equitable service is provided to multilingual children in these cities. Through a combination of questionnaires, Census data, and school population data, information was gathered about number and ratio of monolingual and multilingual children in the population, number and ratio of monolingual and multilingual children on therapy caseloads, languages spoken by the multilingual children and therapists, number and ratio of therapists working in languages other than English, availability of multilingual therapy assistants and interpreters, language(s) in which therapy is offered, training/education provided to therapists, and practising therapists’ views on service provision to multilingual children. Results show that currently only one of the three cities is providing a fully equitable service for multilingual children and that there are varying levels of support which partly reflect the perceived need in each area. Conclusions drawn include the need for a change in how data on linguistic diversity in society is collected and disseminated so that informed decisions can influence the future of quality services to minority groups. Keywords: Multilingual children, service provision, UK Introduction The population in the UK is more culturally diverse than ever before, with a minority ethnic population of 4.6 million or 7.9% of the total population in 2001 (National Statistics). Since the last Census (1991) the minority ethnic population in Great Britain has grown by as much as 53% overall (National Statistics) and 62% in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2004). 1 This growth is particularly evident in the younger population since minority ethnic groups have a younger age structure than the white population, reflecting different fertility patterns. It is estimated that the number of children under the age of 15 amounts to 30% of the minority ethnic population, whereas it only amounts to 19% of the white population (Scott, Pearce and Goldblatt, 2001). This suggests that a growing number of children in the UK are, potentially at least, bilingual or multilingual. 2 Correspondence: Ineke Mennen, Speech and Language Sciences, Queen Margaret University College, Clerwood Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 8TS, UK. Tel: 44 131 3173757. Fax: 44 131 3173689. E-mail: imennen@qmuc.ac.uk Received for publication 22 March 2004. Accepted 25 June 2005. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders, March 2006; 4(1): 23 – 44 ISSN 1476-9670 print/ISSN 1476-9689 online Ó 2006 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.1080/14769670500272689