Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the national maternity and neonatal action plan.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently announced an independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services, and the establishment of a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.

The investigation will produce, by December 2025, one clear set of national recommendations to achieve high quality, safe care across maternity and neonatal services, and will ensure that women and families are listened to.

The taskforce will then develop a national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care. The timing for the publication of the action plan will be announced in due course.

In the meantime, work continues to implement the actions set out in NHS England’s Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care also announced some immediate actions to boost accountability and safety as part of the Government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future. This includes measures to hold the system to account, a system to better identify safety concerns, rolling out a programme to all trusts to tackle discrimination and racism, and new best practice standards in maternal mortality.