Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, and (3) Northern Ireland about participation of children in those nations in puberty blocker trials; and whether they requested participants in the puberty blocker trials from the health departments of the devolved administration, or whether the health departments proactively volunteered those participants.

The PATHWAYS clinical trial of puberty-suppressing hormones expects to include 226 participants, a number which is not broken down geographically. As announced on 20 February 2026, the preliminary work in establishing the PATHWAYS clinical trial has been paused, following new concerns raised by the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). In the meantime, the trial will not start recruiting until issues raised by the MHRA have been resolved between the regulator and the trial clinicians.