Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there is a clear referral pathway for (a) autism and (b) ADHD assessments for children around the age of five.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment services and referral pathways, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. This includes guidance on identification and referral for autism assessments. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to use this guidance to support the delivery of autism assessment pathways.
In respect of ADHD, NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, and to make recommendations for improvement. The interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected in the summer.
If an individual suspects their child is autistic or has ADHD, they should speak to a general practitioner (GP) or a health visitor, for children under five years old, and after the appointment the GP may decide to refer them for an assessment. Further information can be found on the NHS website.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of specialist dental provision for patients with autism.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community Dental Services (CDS) provide specialised dental services to people with additional needs, such as people with autism, and are available in a variety of places to ensure everyone can access National Health Service dental care. These include hospitals, centres providing specialist services and mobile clinics, as well as home visits or visits in nursing and care homes.
The Getting it Right First Time report published by NHS England in January 2025, sets out recommendations to improve CDS for children and adults. In response, we are improving data reporting to increase oversight of CDS activity, and integrated care boards will consider the recommendations as part of their responsibility for commissioning CDS for their local areas. The report is available from the following link:
Under the Health and Care Act 2022, providers registered with the Care Quality Commission must ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care for these people.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that questions asked during asylum interviews are (a) appropriate, (b) relevant and (c) not misapplied from other (i) religious and (ii) cultural contexts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claims made in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits, and the guidance provided to decision makers when undertaking interviews is published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conducting-the-asylum-interview-process.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) two-child limit and (b) benefit cap on levels of child poverty among (i) children who are not eligible for (A) breakfast clubs and (B) free school meals and (ii) other children; and whether her Department plans to (1) review and (2) revise these policies.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to ensure we deliver measures which tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
Furthermore, as a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Our commitments at the 2025 spending review come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered developing a national integration strategy for asylum seekers and refugees similar to those established in Scotland and Wales.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published on Monday 12 May, announced proposals by a wide range of reforms, including on the issue of integration and community cohesion, further details of which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service is required to justify delays in its decision-making processes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Child Maintenance customers can use the online service to track the progress of reported changes and view expected completion dates at any time without the need to call. They can also upload evidence and view any letters which have been sent to them. All calculation decisions made by the CMS can be appealed through the mandatory reconsideration process and beyond that, to the Independent Tribunal Service.
The CMS publishes timeliness data on some of the key decision-making processes such as determining applications, accounting for changes in circumstances and performing mandatory reconsiderations.
Decision making processes can vary in length depending upon complexity and whether both parties have a right to provide and/or contest evidence. Where customers are concerned that a decision has been delayed unreasonably, there is also a robust complaints process, which gives parents opportunities to seek redress when the CMS does not meet their expectations. When a client is dissatisfied, the CMS tries to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, without the need for a formal complaint. If the client remains dissatisfied, the Department for Work and Pensions Complaints Team looks at and responds to their complaint. After that, they can raise it with the Independent Case Examiner and finally with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, through their Member of Parliament.