Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure people with Down Syndrome have access to appropriate (a) healthcare, (b) education and (c) social care throughout their lives.

We are trialling the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training programme to improve awareness and understanding of learning disability, including Down syndrome, for all health and social care staff. We have committed to investing an additional £5.4 billion over three years to begin a comprehensive programme of reform for adult social care, including an extension of the established Disabled Facilities Grant. The Government is taking forward a review to improve outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including those with Down syndrome, with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood. We will publish proposals for full public consultation in the coming months. In addition, the Spending Review committed £2.6 billion over the next three years for school places for children and young people with SEND, more than tripling current capital funding levels to over £900 million by 2024-25.