Government pledges £500,000 to national centre for stammering children

The announcement comes on the day the Prince of Wales hosts a Clarence House reception to celebrate the work of supporters of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children.

Mr Balls' department has now given 1 million in total to the national fund-raising initiative that aims to develop services across the country for youngsters with the speech problem, including providing a new centre in the north of England.

Charles is patron of the appeal launched by the Association for Research into Stammering in Childhood (ARSC), which jointly established the Palin Centre in Islington, north London.

The Schools Secretary, who will attend the reception along with Monty Python star Palin, said: "The new centre of excellence in West Yorkshire will mean more accessible support for thousands more children across the country.

"That's why I am delighted we are contributing to the new centre, expanding services and increasing training of speech and language therapists."

He added: "I want every child to be able to progress and reach their potential, and no young boy or girl should be held back by stammer or any other special need."

The Palin Centre was founded in 1993 and the comic actor and travel presenter agreed to the institution being named after him following his role as a stammering character called Ken in the hit movie A Fish Called Wanda.

The celebrity's performance was based on his own father who suffered from the speech problem all his life.

Palin, vice president of ARSC,, said: "My own experience of my father's stammer made me determined to support the charity's aim - that every child in the country should be able to get specialist help.

"I am immensely proud of all we have achieved at the Michael Palin Centre but there are many more children who need us."

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "This extra money will make a huge difference for hundreds of young people. I feel particularly strongly that children in the North of England should have better access to specialist support.

"Work at the Michael Palin Centre has demonstrated the benefits of specialist intervention at an early stage.

"I am very pleased that the NHS in Yorkshire and the Humber is working closely with the Association for Research into Stammering on the development of a further centre of excellence."