Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure better reporting procedures in schools for suspected cases of female genital mutilation.

The government’s statutory safeguarding guidance for schools, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, outlines the reporting procedures for female genital mutilation, along with other forms of abuse. All school staff should receive safeguarding training at induction and that this should be updated regularly.

The Department for Education recently consulted on strengthening that guidance. We expect to publish our response to the consultation shortly.