Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, what consultation her Department has conducted with (a) families affected by serious incidents and (b) sector stakeholders.

The safety of children is our utmost priority, and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.

As part of this work, last year we held a public consultation on a number of changes to the safeguarding requirements of the EYFS. Anyone, including families affected by serious incidents could respond to the consultation.

All of the safeguarding changes due to come into force in September 2025 were informed by extensive engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts and using lessons learned from previous incidents. We continue to engage with these stakeholders as part of our continuous monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements.