Early Years Screen Time Advisory Group

(asked on 22nd January 2026) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government who attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January; and what was discussed in that meeting.


Answered by
Baroness Smith of Malvern Portrait
Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 5th February 2026

The early years screen time advisory group is comprised of the following members:

  • Professor Russell Viner (co-chair) – Professor in Adolescent Health, University College London, and former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Education.
  • Dame Rachel de Souza (co-chair) – Children’s Commissioner for England.
  • Professor Catherine Davies – Professor of Language Development, University of Leeds.
  • Professor Pasco Fearon – Professor of Family Research, University of Cambridge.
  • Professor Rosie Flewitt – Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Communication, Manchester Metropolitan University.
  • Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy – Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England.
  • Professor Sonia Livingstone – Professor of Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
  • Professor Amy Orben – Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Research Programme, University of Cambridge.
  • Professor Paul Ramchandani – LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning, University of Cambridge.
  • Professor Kathy Sylva – Honorary Research Fellow and Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Oxford.

All members of the group attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January, alongside officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.

This introductory meeting focused on agreeing ways of working, including delivery timelines and approaches to evidence gathering, and the scope of the early years screen time guidance. The group also discussed the dissemination of the guidance.

Minutes of the meeting will be published in due course.

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