Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve early diagnosis and support for children born with Down syndrome in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Pregnant people will be offered a screening test for Down syndrome between 10 and 14 weeks of pregnancy. If the screening test shows that the chance of the baby having Down syndrome is higher than one in 150, this is called a higher-chance result. People who receive a higher-chance result can decide to:

• not have any further testing;
• have a second screening test called a non-invasive prenatal testing, which is a blood test that can give a more accurate screening result, and can help people to decide whether to have a diagnostic test or not; and
• have a diagnostic test, such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling straight away, which tells people for certain whether or not their baby has Down syndrome, but in rare cases can cause a miscarriage.

We are taking action to improve access to services for people with Down syndrome and to raise awareness and understanding of their needs through implementation of the Down Syndrome Act 2022. The act requires my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to give statutory guidance to the relevant authorities regarding the appropriate actions they should be taking to support the needs of people with Down syndrome.

We are taking forward the development of the statutory guidance as a priority and expect to publish it for public consultation this autumn. The guidance will help to clarify the help and services people with Down syndrome can expect to receive. The draft guidance will set out the process for diagnosing Down syndrome, and the support that health services should provide to a parent carrying a baby with Down syndrome.

The draft guidance will also raise awareness of the needs of children with Down syndrome in relation to health, social care, and education, and will set out practical steps that organisations should take to meet these needs.