Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to improve support people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder; and what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to improve support for carers of people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

The Government recognises that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) can have a significant impact on the early years development of children and their life chances, and is taking action to improve support for those living with its consequences. The Department of Health and Social Care published the FASD Health Needs Assessment in 2021, which set out further steps to be taken to address the needs of individuals with FASD.

The Department of Health and Social Care also commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard to improve the diagnosis and care for children and young people with FASD and highlight the importance of advising women to abstain from alcohol in pregnancy, in line with the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. This was published in 2022.

The Department for Education is supporting kinship families through a £2 million contract with the charity Kinship to deliver high-quality peer support groups for kinship carers across the country. This provides a range of support for kinship carers, including support for carers of people with FASD.