Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) funding and (b) resources required for the implementation of statutory teaching of Relationships and Sex Education from September 2020.

The Department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September, we are making relationships education compulsory for all primary pupils, relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory for?all secondary pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.

Many schools are already teaching aspects of these subjects as part of their RSE curriculum. Schools have the flexibility to determine how to deliver the new content, in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Department is investing in a central programme of support for the new subjects, which is planned to be available to all teachers from spring 2020. The programme will focus on tools that improve schools’ practice and will offer opportunities for teachers to improve subject knowledge, build confidence and share best practice, so schools can learn lessons from each other and decide how best to deliver the new subjects. This support will be accessed through a new online service, featuring innovative training materials, case studies and an implementation guide and support to access resources. There will also be training available for teachers through the existing teaching school regional networks.

The Department is currently working with lead teachers, non-specialist teachers, schools and subject experts to develop this central programme of support to help ensure it meets the needs of schools and teachers.