Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what meetings she and her ministerial colleagues have had with (a) the Chief Medical Officer, (b) officials and Ministers from other Departments and (c) external stakeholders on updating the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework to make specific reference to physical activity.

On 20 Jan 2016, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) National Centre for Physical Activity and Health published The best start in life – a manifesto for physical activity in the early years, which included a recommendation for greater emphasis on the importance of physical activity across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and more awareness of the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines for the early years (2011).

This report was discussed between officials at Department for Education and Department of Health. Following a meeting between the BHF and my Rt. Hon. Friend, the former Secretary of State for Education, a meeting took place between officials and the BHF.

In April 2016, the Department agreed to include a link to the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance on physical activity in the revised EYFS, which we plan to publish around spring/summer 2017.

Since this recommendation was addressed, before the recent machinery of government changes and the appointment of my Rt. Hon. Friend, the current Secretary of State for Education on 14 July, her and her ministerial colleagues have not had any meetings about this matter.