Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of allowing inquests into the death of a child by suicide to be conducted in private.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As I confirmed in my response the Honourable Member’s question on this issue on 23 July 2025 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament), the Government is committed to putting the bereaved at the heart of the inquest process, and we are particularly conscious of the importance of this for those who have suffered the unimaginable distress of losing a child through suicide.
However, in line with the principle of open justice - which applies in all courts including the coroner’s court - it is important that justice is administered in public, that everything said in court is reportable, and that any departure from this approach is closely regulated.
Accordingly, there are strict limitations on the coroner’s powers to sit in private, to withhold the names of witnesses or Interested Persons, or to prevent the reporting of matters heard in court. In particular, the public and media may only be excluded from an inquest hearing in the interests of national security.
Chapter 8 of the Chief Coroner’s Guidance for Coroners on the Bench (Chapter 8: Open Justice - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary) provides guidance for coroners on the principle of open justice and the application of any statutory powers to depart from it.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many detransitioners from the Early Intervention Study run by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in 2011-14 have presented to the NHS for either medical injury or regret; and how many detransitioners, in total, have presented to the NHS for either medical injury or regret since the Cass review was commissioned.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data and research on detransition has been limited and the number of individuals who may wish to seek help from the National Health Service is not held.
In line with recommendation 25 of the Cass Review, NHS England is developing a clinical pathway for individuals who wish to detransition. Between October and December 2025, NHS England held a 'call for evidence' aimed at healthcare professionals and medical bodies, and the responses will help to shape the development of a care pathway and service specification which NHS England plans to consult on in the summer of 2026.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he intends to publish the document entitled Pathways Trial for GnRHa - Guidance for CYPGS Clinicians.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A document entitled PATHWAYS TRIAL for Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Analogues (GnRHa) – Guidance for CYPGS clinicians is referenced in the published research protocol for the PATHWAYS study of puberty suppression. The Department does not hold a copy this document and would not expect to hold it, and therefore has no plans to publish it.