Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department is taking to improve retention rates of NHS maternity staff.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how to improve culture and leadership, to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the National Health Service over the next 15 years. This includes: implementing actions from the NHS People Plan that have been shown to be successful; implementing plans to improve flexible opportunities for prospective retirees, and delivering the actions needed to modernise the NHS pension scheme; and committing to ongoing national funding for continuing professional development for nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals, so NHS staff are supported to meet their full potential. These measures apply across staff groups, including maternity staff.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis waiting times for ADHD.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision available, to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE’s guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, as well as the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE’s guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment for ADHD nationally. The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE’s guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting time data collection.

NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to issue guidance to children’s hospices on changes in the distribution of the Children’s Hospice Grant for the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as previously used. Funding will be distributed via integrated care boards (ICBs), in line with National Health Service devolution.

NHS England wrote to all ICBs and children’s hospices on 9 April 2024 to confirm the new arrangements, providing the sector with the clarity on 2024/25 allocations they have been seeking, for this very important funding stream.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the shortage of children’s nurses in hospices across the UK.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is seeking to address shortages in the workforce, and particularly in community care, through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP). The LTWP, published in 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to grow the workforce, and deliver a workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP aims to grow the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, and primary and community care, and sets out an ambition to grow these roles by 73%, by 2036/37.

The Department has delivered on the Government’s commitment of 50,000 additional nurses, with over 363,000 nurses working across the NHS, which is over 62,000, or 20.7% more than September 2019. More widely, data for September 2023 from the Nursing and Midwifery Council shows there are over 58,300 registered children’s nurses across the United Kingdom. This is over 6,500, or 12.7%, more than in 2019.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Any Hours and Any Speciality schemes used by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust on (a) maternity staff retention rates and (b) career progression among midwives.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Any Hours is a programme that allows for more flexible working hours and patterns. Wherever there are shifts that are unfilled, Any Hours allows midwives to choose when, where, and the number of hours they want to work. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust data shows that since the Any Hours Scheme was enacted, it has released, on average, 300 hours a month, equalling two whole time equivalent midwives’ released every month. The Any Hours programme is expected to be featured as a case study by NHS England.

Any Specialty is a programme to encourage all Band 6 midwives to spend 15 hours a month, or two days, in a different speciality of their choice. This allows colleagues to improve the competencies and skills needed to help their career progression, or even to directly apply to a specialist midwife role at the trust. To date, specialties have recruited nine midwives following Any Specialty contact at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements for maternity staff in NHS services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Flexible working arrangements, or We work flexibly, is one of the elements contained in the NHS People Promise, with a commitment to deliver for staff, including midwives, by 2024/25. NHS England has created and shared flexible working arrangement resources, and delivered bespoke webinars and workshops on the issue. They have also brought together midwifery leaders from across the system to share good practice, foster collaboration, and support the implementation of flexible working across maternity services.

In September 2021, contractual changes took effect for employees covered by the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, which includes the right to request flexible working from day one, without the need to provide a justification.

Flexible working is one of the key pillars of improving staff experience and retention, as set out in the Long Term Workforce Plan. It will contribute to the aim of retaining up to 130,000 more staff over the course of the plan. However, no assessment of the benefits of introducing more flexible working arrangements specifically for maternity staff has been made.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to create 43 Hub Lead Organisations by Arts Council England on the future of (a) Music Education Hubs and (b) the wider music provision at schools.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support schools to offer high quality music provision for all children (a) in the curriculum and (b) through (i) local authority-run and (ii) independent Music Education Hubs.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Government’s Music Hub Investment Programme will support independent Music Education Hubs to provide free music education to all children.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will commission research into the impact of (a) autism and (b) ADHD on women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is currently funding research to address measurement bias in the assessment of the presentation of autism in women, and to develop a new psychometric tool assessing the female-dominant phenotype of autism. The NIHR previously funded a study to improve the accuracy and efficiency of autism assessment for adults which, while not specific to women, will be relevant to their experiences of receiving a diagnosis. The NIHR has also funded research into topics that impact autistic individuals differently, for example how to adapt suicide safety plans to address self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide behaviours in autistic adults.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the impact of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on women. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will commission research into the reasons for which autistic women are more likely to suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder throughout their lives.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research to understand the reasons why autistic women are more likely to suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder, but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will commission research into the impact of hormonal changes on neurodiverse women throughout their lives.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into the impact of hormonal changes on neurodiverse women, but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason additional funding to cover increases in employers’ pension contributions will not be provided to existing non-local authority Music Education Hubs beyond the current academic year.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

As part of the ongoing Music Hubs investment programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that Department for Education funding from September 2024 would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would be no additional ring-fenced top-up funding to support teacher pensions from this point on. Indicative allocations for both revenue and capital were also published for the 2024/25 academic year as part of the investment programme information.

The department understands that this will be an adjustment for music education organisations that have received top-up funding in the past and that is why the department has given both incumbent and potential new Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) over 12 months’ notice of this intention so that this can be carefully planned for well in advance.

Following the conclusion of the current Music Hubs competition, due to be announced next month, the department will work with Arts Council England to set final grant allocations for the newly competed HLOs that take over from September 2024. As part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the forthcoming increase in employer contribution to the Teacher Pension Scheme.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to independent music education hubs on the removal of additional top-up funding for pension contributions from September 2024.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

As part of the ongoing Music Hubs investment programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that Department for Education funding from September 2024 would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would be no additional ring-fenced top-up funding to support teacher pensions from this point on. Indicative allocations for both revenue and capital were also published for the 2024/25 academic year as part of the investment programme information.

The department understands that this will be an adjustment for music education organisations that have received top-up funding in the past and that is why the department has given both incumbent and potential new Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) over 12 months’ notice of this intention so that this can be carefully planned for well in advance.

Following the conclusion of the current Music Hubs competition, due to be announced next month, the department will work with Arts Council England to set final grant allocations for the newly competed HLOs that take over from September 2024. As part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the forthcoming increase in employer contribution to the Teacher Pension Scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with paediatricians on trends in the number of women diagnosed with (a) autism and (b) ADHD.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions on a wide range of matters with a wide range of people, including clinical staff. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) recognise that autism and ADHD may be under-diagnosed in women and girls. The NICE’s guideline on autism diagnosis for under 19-year-olds and the NICE’s guideline on ADHD, both set out that clinicians should pay attention to the under-diagnosis of girls, when assessing for suspected autism and ADHD. We expect integrated care boards (ICBs) and health professionals to have due regard to these guidelines. In April 2023, NHS England published all age autism guidance, which aims to improve outcomes and the quality of autism assessment pathways for everyone. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/

With respect to autism, data shows that we are now seeing an increase in referrals for female diagnoses, suggesting that there is an increased awareness of the presentation of autism in women and girls. In England, as of December 2023, of the 172,022 patients with an open suspected autism referral, 52% were male and 47% were female. The number of female patients with an open referral for suspected autism is increasing more than for male patients, with the proportion of female patients having increased steadily from 36% in June 2020.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessments and diagnosis of ADHD nationally. Although data is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or ICBs. NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has also announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to assess the healthcare needs of women with autism and ADHD during menopause.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No specific assessment has been made. Menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy, and the Department and National Health Service are implementing an ambitious programme of work to improve menopause care so all women, including those with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can access the support they need.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for providing services that meet the needs of their local population. Every ICB is expected to have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism, whose remit includes supporting the board in addressing the health inequalities that autistic people and people with a learning disability experience, and supporting equal access to care across all health services.

From 1 July 2022, the Health and Care Act 2022 requires Care Quality Commission registered providers to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. Since November 2022, over 1.7 million people have completed the first part of Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. In addition, NHS England is improving the use and recording of reasonable adjustments to ensure care is tailored appropriately for disabled people, including people with autism and ADHD.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of maternity staff leaving NHS employment on services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Department works with NHS England on a regular basis to review the numbers of staff working in National Health Service maternity services, and to identify any issues which could potentially impact services.

Growing, retaining, and supporting the maternity workforce to ensure that there are staff with the capacity and the right skills to deliver safe, personalised, and equitable care for women and babies is a key theme of NHS England’s Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services. NHS England is also delivering a nursing and midwifery retention programme, supporting organisations in assessing themselves against a bundle of interventions aligned to the NHS People Promise, and to develop high-quality local retention improvement plans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to ensure that effective support is provided to autistic women (a) during and (b) after childbirth.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Health and Care Act 2022 requires Care Quality Commission registered providers, which includes maternity services, to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. We are rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to support this. This training will help to ensure that staff have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe and compassionate care, including how to provide reasonable adjustments for autistic people.

NHS England is also working to improve the use and recording of reasonable adjustments to make it easier for autistic people to use health services, by ensuring care is tailored appropriately. This includes the development of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which will enable the recording of key information about a patient, including if a person is autistic, and their reasonable adjustment needs, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women and girls are waiting for (a) autism and (b) ADHD assessments in the London Borough of Lewisham; and what the average waiting time is for such assessments.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The information requested is not held centrally, but may be held by individual providers or integrated care boards (ICBs). However, some relevant information is available for autism assessments. In the NHS South East London ICB, in December 2023, there were a total of 1425 patients with an open suspected autism referral. The median waiting time of patients in this ICB with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 545 days. Across England, in December 2023, 80,718 female patients had an open suspected autism referral.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to endorse the revised Comprehensive School Safety Framework.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Comprehensive School Safety Framework is well aligned with UK priorities, and we support its implementation through our funding to Education Cannot Wait. The UK has endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration which commits to reducing the impact of conflict on education and is closely linked to the Comprehensive School Safety Framework. FCDO officials will discuss endorsing the framework with The Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support the (i) recruitment, (ii) retention and (iii) professional development of (A) teachers and (B) educational staff in crisis-affected countries and (b) invest in their (1) safety and (2) working conditions.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The FCDO supports the education workforce in crises-affected countries through our support to multilateral partners; our bilateral programmes; and our wider policy work on strengthening education systems and foundational learning. The UK is the second largest donor to Education Cannot Wait, which has funded the recruitment and/or financial support for nearly 170,000 teachers between 2016 and 2022. The UK is also the second largest donor to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which spends over 60 percent of its funds in fragile and conflict affected states and directly supports teacher recruitment, training and safer school environments.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help international education systems prepare for natural disasters.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

In 2023, we pledged £80 million to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a global fund for education in emergencies, central to supporting education resilience in the face of increasing natural and man-made disasters. The FCDO's position paper, 'Addressing the Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity Crises in and through Girls' Education' (2022), provides a framework of priority actions to build resilient and climate smart school systems. Increasingly, our bilateral education programmes are building climate resilience, and we are working, as leading donors, through global education funds - Global Partnership for Education and ECW - to protect education in the face of disasters.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average time taken to diagnose pancreatic cancer in Lewisham West and Penge constituency.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the average time taken to diagnose pancreatic cancer is not published by NHS England who are responsible for publishing cancer waiting times data. NHS England is working to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out. Latest published data from February 2024 shows FDS performance was 78.1% nationally. Of those patients referred to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in February 2024, 81.2% received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within four weeks which was above the 75% standard. For the same period 76.2% of patients referred to providers part of NHS South East London Integrated Care Board received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within 28 days.

Data on FDS does not individualise pancreatic cancer specifically, however it does include suspected upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, which encompasses pancreatic cancer, at provider level. Of those patients referred to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust for suspected GI cancer in February 2024, 82.3% received a diagnosis or ruling out of cancer within four weeks.

The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.