Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the status of the proposed PATHWAYS clinical trial.

Better quality evidence is critical if the NHS is to support young people suffering from gender incongruence, so we are supporting a programme of research, recommended by the Cass Review, including the PATHWAYS study. The health and wellbeing of the children and young people involved is our primary concern.

Ethical and regulatory approvals have been received for the observational element of the study. Approval processes and site set-up are well underway for the clinical trial and we will provide an update when the study moves to the next stage.