To ask Her Majesty's Government how they respond to the comments made by the Communications Champion Jean Gross that many children lack the vocabulary skills to ensure future employment. [HL1238]

The Government have published an action plan Better Communication, backed by £12 million investment, which included appointing a communications champion. Jean Gross has been appointed as the communications champion and is playing a key role in promoting the importance of communication skills to children and in helping us to make a success of the commitments set out in the action plan.

The pupil guarantee, on which we are consulting, includes a commitment that all learners should get the chance to develop functional skills, including English. Functional English specifically covers oral communication and its applicability in the world of work. The changes to the secondary English curriculum which are already under way will secure this. Functional Skills is a key component of foundation learning, being developed as part of the 14-19 reforms to focus on the needs of learners at entry level and level 1.

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have yet to respond to the recommendation of the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum by Sir John Rose about introducing synthetic phonics in schools. [HL1239]

The Government accepted all of the recommendations made by Sir Jim Rose in the final report of the independent review of the primary curriculum, published on 30 April 2009. The report did not recommend introducing synthetic phonics in schools.

Sir Jim Rose’s Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading, 2006, recommended systematic phonic work as the prime approach for teaching beginner readers. This recommendation was implemented in schools in 2007-08.