Up to half of children in deprived parts of Britain have significant speech problems, a groundbreaking review said Tuesday, adding that the problem is currently too low a priority for the government.

The report into language and speech services, published by Conservative MP John Bercow, found that around seven percent of five-year olds entering primary school across England - representing nearly 40,000 children in 2007 - had significant difficulties with speech and/or language.

In more disadvantaged areas, around 50 percent of children and young people had speech and language skills significantly lower than those of other children of the same age.

Bercow said: "With strong communication skills, children can engage and thrive. Without them children will struggle to learn, achieve, make friends and interact with the world around them.

"Our review has found that these essential life skills are too low a priority in education and the health service. This is severely hampering childrens ability to learn, achieve, participate in and contribute to society."

The report, which was commissioned by the government, found that early intervention is key to helping these children. Otherwise, the child is at risk of educational and behavioural problems and in some cases may "descent into criminality", it says.

The Bercow review makes several recommendations. For parents, it suggests family activities where conversation is the main focus. For government, proposals include regular monitoring of children at different stages in their school careers, keeping the parents informed early on, and the introduction of a 'communication champion' to raise the profile of speech, language and communications within schools.

Accepting the review, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced Tuesday that £12 million pounds would be set aside to implement the report's 40 recommendations and another £40 million would be spent on training pre-school workers to support young childrens early language development.