Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing suicide prevention as a compulsory part of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Health Education became a statutory part of the National Curriculum in September 2020, for all pupils in state funded schools of compulsory school age.
The aim of teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing is to provide the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, recognise issues in themselves and others and, when issues arise, seek support as early as possible from appropriate sources.
At primary school, pupils will be taught to recognise and talk about their emotions, the benefits of exercise, and simple self care techniques. At secondary school, pupils will be taught common types of mental ill health and how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns. Schools can teach older pupils about suicide in an age appropriate and sensitive way.
The Department has brought forward the review of the relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance. The Department will consult on an amended draft of the statutory guidance in the autumn with a view to publishing the final version in early 2024.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to increase funding for (a) projects that involve the sophisticated use of human cells and tissues, (b) organ-on-a-chip technology, (c) (i) electroencephalography and (ii) other non-invasive approaches to recording brain activity and (d) other human-specific research into mental health disorders.
Answered by George Freeman
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a portfolio of research projects involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies. For example, last year their Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research launched a £4.7 million joint funding call focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.
UKRI also funds a significant amount of research into non-invasive neuroimaging to advance our understanding of human brain and mental health. For instance, since 2010 their Medical Research Council has invested £3.8 million into non-invasive neuroimaging in mental health research.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Start for Life funding her Department budgeted for distribution to participating local authorities in the 2022-23 financial year; and how much and what proportion of that funding was received by those local authorities as of 31 January 2023.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department budgeted the following to spend on grants for the 75 local authorities on the Family Hubs Start for Life Programme in 2022/23:
The remainder of the grants paid to local authorities for the Family Hubs Start for Life Programme in 2022-23 are grants from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). These grants cover perinatal mental health, including parent and infant relationships, infant feeding, parent and carer panels, Start for Life publishing, and workforce trials.
As of 31 January 2023, all local authorities had been paid their first of two grants for 2022/23. The Department have paid the following in grants to local authorities up to and including 31 January 2023:
Local authorities will receive their second and final grant payment for 2022/23 in March 2023, with the majority receiving this by 13 March 2023.
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