Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to expand the number of health visitors and school nurses.

Since April 2013, local authorities (LAs) have been responsible for public health locally, including commissioning public health services for school aged children, namely school nursing services and the Healthy Child Programme. Additionally, from 1 October 2015, LAs took over responsibility for commissioning public health services for children aged zero to five from NHS England. LAs are mandated to provide or secure the five universal health visitor reviews.

It is for local authorities to assess the health needs of their populations and commission the appropriate services and workforce. All commissioning should be based on a robust Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and supported by local workforce plans. Commissioning decisions are for local discretion and as such there will be variations.

Health Education England is ensuring sustainable development of the workforce and there are presently over 800 health visitor student training places commissioned.