Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring that all sports massage therapists undergo enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Anyone undertaking or seeking employment within a health or care role will be subject to employer checks, which may include a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Whatever their employment status, any individual can get a basic criminal record certificate from the DBS, which will show any unspent convictions or cautions they have.
On 18 April 2023, the Independent Review of the disclosure and barring regime published its report on the effectiveness of the scheme in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. The report concluded that the regime is delivering its mission of helping employers and organisations to make safer employment decisions but identifies several areas where the regime could be strengthened. The review recommended that self-employed individuals seeking to work with children or vulnerable adults are made eligible to apply for an enhanced DBS certificate with the relevant barred lists check.
The Government is carefully considering the Review’s recommendations.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department produced a ministerial response under the write round process to the Department for Education's review of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Secretary of State for Education has been clear she is very concerned about reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships and sex education (RSHE). The Government has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance as a result, including conducting a public consultation as soon as possible.
The statutory guidance clearly states that the guidance will be reviewed every three years from first teaching (September 2020) and so the decision to review the guidance does not require collective agreement. The Secretary of State for Education will seek collective agreement to the consultation documents through a write-round process, before publishing the consultation in the autumn. This process is not yet underway.
As part of the review, an expert panel has been established to advise the Secretary of State on what topics should and should not be taught in school and the introduction of age limits. This will provide clear guidance for teachers about when certain topics can be addressed.
In tandem to this work, the Oak Academy is producing a suite of materials to support teachers to create age-appropriate lessons plans and ensure that they have access to appropriate materials.
The Government is determined to make sure RSHE teaching leaves children equipped to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing and relationships, in a sensitive way that reflects their stage of development.
The Government expects new statutory guidance to be released in the coming months. It will then be subject to public consultation to conclude by the end of the year, coming into statutory force as soon as possible after that.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department produced a ministerial response under the write round process to the Department for Education's review of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.
Answered by Will Quince
The Secretary of State for Education has been clear she is very concerned about reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships and sex education (RSHE). The Government has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance as a result, including conducting a public consultation as soon as possible.
The statutory guidance clearly states that the guidance will be reviewed every three years from first teaching (September 2020) and so the decision to review the guidance does not require collective agreement. The Secretary of State for Education will seek collective agreement to the consultation documents through a write-round process, before publishing the consultation in the autumn. This process is not yet underway.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department produced a ministerial response under the write round process to the Department for Education's review of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Secretary of State for Education has been clear she is very concerned about reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships and sex education (RSHE). The Government has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance as a result, including conducting a public consultation as soon as possible.
The statutory guidance clearly states that the guidance will be reviewed every three years from first teaching (September 2020) and so the decision to review the guidance does not require collective agreement. The Secretary of State for Education will seek collective agreement to the consultation documents through a write-round process, before publishing the consultation in the autumn. This process is not yet underway.
As part of the review, an expert panel has been established to advise the Secretary of State on what topics should and should not be taught in school and the introduction of age limits. This will provide clear guidance for teachers about when certain topics can be addressed.
In tandem to this work, the Oak Academy is producing a suite of materials to support teachers to create age-appropriate lessons plans and ensure that they have access to appropriate materials.
The government is determined to make sure RSHE teaching leaves children equipped to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing and relationships, in a sensitive way that reflects their stage of development.
The Government expects new statutory guidance to be released in the coming months. It will then be subject to public consultation to conclude by the end of the year, coming into statutory force as soon as possible after that.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department produced a ministerial response under the write round process to the Department for Education's review of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Secretary of State for Education has been clear she is very concerned about reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The Government has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance as a result, including conducting a public consultation as soon as possible.
The statutory guidance clearly states that the guidance will be reviewed every three years from first teaching (September 2020) and so the decision to review the guidance does not require collective agreement. The Secretary of State for Education will seek collective agreement to the consultation documents through a write-round process, before publishing the consultation in the autumn. This process is not yet underway.
As part of the review, an expert panel has been established to advise the Secretary of State on what topics should and should not be taught in school and the introduction of age limits. This will provide clear guidance for teachers about when certain topics can be addressed.
In tandem with this work, the Oak National Academy is producing a suite of materials to support teachers to create age-appropriate lesson plans and ensure that they have access to appropriate materials.
The Government is determined to make sure RSHE teaching leaves children equipped to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing and relationships, in a sensitive way that reflects their stage of development.
The Government expects new statutory guidance to be released in the coming months. It will then be subject to public consultation to conclude by the end of the year, coming into statutory force as soon as possible after that.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department produced a ministerial response under the write round process to the Department for Education's review of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has been clear that it is very concerned about reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships and sex education (RSHE). It has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance as a result, including conducting a public consultation as soon as possible.
The statutory guidance clearly states that the guidance will be reviewed every three years from first teaching (September 2020) and so the decision to review the guidance does not require collective agreement. The Secretary of State for Education will seek collective agreement to the consultation documents through a write-round process, before publishing the consultation in the autumn. This process is not yet underway.
As part of the review, an expert panel has been established to advise the Secretary of State on what topics should and should not be taught in school and the introduction of age limits. This will provide clear guidance for teachers about when certain topics can be addressed.
The Oak Academy is producing a suite of materials to support teachers to create age-appropriate lessons plans and ensure that they have access to appropriate materials.
The Government is determined to make sure RSHE teaching leaves children equipped to make informed decisions about their health, well-being and relationships, in a sensitive way that reflects their stage of development.
The Government expects new statutory guidance to be released in the coming months. It will then be subject to public consultation to conclude by the end of the year, coming into statutory force as soon as possible after that.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of children affected by parental imprisonment.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Ministry of Justice’s most comprehensive prison population data suggests over the course of a year, approximately 200,000 children may be affected by a parent being in or going to prison.
The Prisons Strategy White Paper includes a commitment to improve the quality of the data collected on children impacted by parental imprisonment and to improve the support provided.
We are delivering on this through our Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) Programme. BOLD is a cross government project which will link data to enable better evidenced and more joined up cross government services.
Through BOLD, we will explore data sharing to improve our understanding of the number of children with parents in prison and how parental incarceration impacts children’s outcomes, including education, employment and future offending.
Changes have also been made to the Basic Custody Screening Tool to enable us to collect data on entry to prison about how many primary carers are in custody and how many children under the age of 18 are affected by their imprisonment. The learning from the data collected will be incorporated into findings from the BOLD programme, which will be delivered by March 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2023 to Question 189778 on Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Disability, what research his Department has commissioned to develop the statutory guidance on meeting building regulations approved document M; and whether he plans to publish that research.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Rt. Hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN HL8422 on 26 June 2023 and the answer to Question UIN 191722 on 3 July 2023. The Government will consult further on those technical changes needed to mandate the higher accessibility standard in the Building Regulations, and in statutory guidance, in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2023 to Question 189778 on Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Disability, what (a) steps his Department is taking to improve and (b) his planned timetable is for improving the framework to deliver accessible new homes.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer my Rt. Hon. Friend to the answer to Question UIN HL8422 on 26 June 2023 and the answer to Question UIN 191722 on 3 July 2023. The Government will consult further on those technical changes needed to mandate the higher accessibility standard in the Building Regulations, and in statutory guidance, in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which integrated care boards are (a) meeting and (b) not meeting the NHS target of completing 75 per cent of annual health checks for people aged 14 or over with a learning disability by 2023-24; and what level are those not meeting the target of at least 75 per cent reaching.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are taking action to reduce inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people, including annual health checks to help identify undetected health conditions early and ensure the appropriateness of ongoing treatments. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out an ambition to improve the uptake of the existing annual health check in primary care for people with a learning disability aged 14 years old and over, so that at least 75% of those eligible have a health check each year.
The attached report, from data published by NHS England, sets out data on annual health checks delivered in 2022/23 by area. It shows that, at the end of March 2023, 31 Integrated Care Systems / Transforming Care Partnership areas achieved the NHS Long Term Plan target of 75% or more for annual health checks for eligible people with a learning disability and 11 did not. The attached table shows the variation for those not currently meeting the target, this ranges from 66.1%-74.9%.