Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS follows guidance on the minimum age for gender dysphoria.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2024, NHS England published a new service specification that describes the pathway onto the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The service specification was agreed following a process of public consultation, respondents to which included medical bodies such as royal colleges of medicine. I would like to assure you that this service specification is followed by all commissioned providers of NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published on 26 November 2024, what discussions she has held with (a) disabled people, (b) advocacy groups and (c) healthcare professionals in the (i) design and (ii) rollout of measures set out in the paper.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and the principles of working with them and disability organisations. This approach ensures we can design and deliver better support to help disabled people find and stay in work and capture the important insights from disability organisations and healthcare professionals.
The primary focus of the Get Britain Working White Paper is to tackle economic inactivity and through the measures announced in the White Paper including economic inactivity trailblazers, local Get Britain Working plans in England, the Keep Britain Working Review and others, we aim to support more disabled people and people with health conditions to find and thrive in employment.
Such ambitious plans require input and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders - from charities, community groups and employers through to devolved governments, local authorities, healthcare professionals and providers of employment support and careers advice.
Ministers continue to speak with a wide range of disabled people and disabled people's organisations to get their views on policy design and delivery. Through Ministerial visits across the country, I regularly meet with disabled people and the organisations that support them. For example, I recently met with the Trade Union Congress Young Workers Committee, where discussions were held with representatives from the Disabled Workers Committee, and with Citizens Advice, who provide a range of advice and support for disabled people.
The Minister for Social Security and Disability meets a range of forums quarterly including the Disabled People’s Organisation Forum of England made up of Deaf and Disabled people’s organisations including Disability Rights UK, Inclusion London and the Regional Stakeholder Network (RSN) made up of the chairs of 9 regional networks across England.
The RSNs include disabled people, parents and carers of disabled people and disabled people’s representative organisations, such as the Disability Charities Consortium which includes Scope, Leonard Cheshire, National Autistic Society, Mind, Mencap, Sense, Royal National Society of Blind people (RNIB), Royal National Society for Deaf people (RNID) and the Business Disability Forum.
The Minister Social Security and Disability also recently met a group of clinical stakeholders including the British Medical Association, the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists amongst others.
We are also working to establish the Disability Advisory Panel, to connect the department to more voices and perspectives, and improve how we collaborate with disabled people. We are undertaking the due process required to ensure the Panel is set up in the most accessible and inclusive way, engaging with external and internal stakeholders to help guide the approach. We are working towards launching the Disability Advisory Panel in Summer 2025.
We will continue to engage with disabled people, advocacy groups, and healthcare professionals as we implement our future reforms to ensure that even more disabled people have access to the best employment opportunities
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations on the minimum age for treatment for gender dysphoria in the Cass Review, published in April 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation regarding an updated referral pathway policy for children and young people to access NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review.
The public consultation was supported by a detailed Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment. A detailed report on the outcome of the consultation process, alongside guidance for secondary care health professionals, was published by NHS England on 7 August 2024.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the dates on which patients who were invited to a first appointment for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in April 2025 were first referred, broken down by each service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is not collected in this format. The most recent figures show that the number of children and young people on the waiting list for gender services is 6,225.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the appropriateness of gambling-related content on the online programming platform Scratch which is used by children in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not support or mandate individual products. Schools should follow the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, supported by the department’s filtering and monitoring standards. Schools should monitor pupils’ use of devices whilst in school.
The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that young people should be taught the risks of online gambling and how to seek help if they have concerns. The computing curriculum supports pupils to make informed decisions whilst online or using other technologies.
The department-funded National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) provides training and resources to improve computing provision, including support for teaching programming concepts through languages such as Scratch.
The NCCE is reviewing all teacher resources that include Scratch content. Guidance for keeping children safe when using Scratch will be included in all relevant content by June 2025. NCCE materials do not use gambling as a programming exercise for pupils. None of the NCCE’s lessons or courses recommend pupils use the search function or engage with other people's content on Scratch. Teachers are advised to use the offline version of the platform to prevent pupils from searching ready-made code.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure autism is considered in the Youth Employment Strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As a Government, we want to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace, and we are looking to build on the findings of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment by gathering expert evidence in line with this expanded focus.
As part of plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch a Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.
Our Youth Guarantee will meet the needs of those facing disadvantages relating to mental or physical health. Collaborating closely with stakeholders from a range of sectors will be integral to improving opportunities for young people. And that is why we have launched eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers to test and learn before further roll out of the Youth Guarantee. These Trailblazers are testing joining-up locally and nationally delivered work, health and skills approach.
Autism creates employment barriers that can affect young people's daily lives and mental health. As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we have ambitious plans to better support our young people to lead fulfilling lives and careers.
Jobcentre Plus already offers extensive assistance to young disabled people and those with health conditions, focusing on individual needs and collaborating with local partners for appropriate support. In addition, work coaches in Youth Hubs and Youth Employability Coaches, provide targeted interventions to build skills, confidence, and employment opportunities.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will ensure that autism is included in the Youth Employment Strategy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As a Government, we want to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace, and we are looking to build on the findings of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment by gathering expert evidence in line with this expanded focus.
As part of plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch a Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.
Our Youth Guarantee will meet the needs of those facing disadvantages relating to mental or physical health. Collaborating closely with stakeholders from a range of sectors will be integral to improving opportunities for young people. And that is why we have launched eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers to test and learn before further roll out of the Youth Guarantee. These Trailblazers are testing joining-up locally and nationally delivered work, health and skills approach.
Autism creates employment barriers that can affect young people's daily lives and mental health. As outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we have ambitious plans to better support our young people to lead fulfilling lives and careers.
Jobcentre Plus already offers extensive assistance to young disabled people and those with health conditions, focusing on individual needs and collaborating with local partners for appropriate support. In addition, work coaches in Youth Hubs and Youth Employability Coaches, provide targeted interventions to build skills, confidence, and employment opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat the abuse of ketamine.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is extremely concerned by the rising use of ketamine in the UK and its dangerous impact on people's health, which may be significantly underestimated by those who use the drug. That is why I have written to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), setting out those concerns and seeking their advice on reclassifying ketamine as a Class A substance. We will carefully consider the ACMD’s recommendations before making any decision on how to proceed.
The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID) has briefed local authorities and treatment systems on data on ketamine use and harm, and guidance on prevention, harm reduction and treatment interventions. In addition, OHID has been supporting local authorities in increasing access to and retention in drug treatment through the public health grant and the significant increases in treatment funding. As a result, and in response to increased prevalence, the treatment system is responding and the number of adults entering treatment for ketamine use is 11 times higher than a decade ago (Dec 2013 - Nov 24) and proportion of children and young people under the age of 18 young people accessing help in relation to ketamine has increased from under 1% in 2015-16 to 9% in November 2024.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of producing a national strategy to help improve (a) access to and (b) the quality of eating disorder services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently refreshing guidance on children and young people's eating disorders. The refreshed guidance will highlight the importance of awareness and early recognition of eating disorders within schools, colleges, primary care, and broader children and young peoples’ mental health services.
The Government is currently developing the 10-Year Health Plan, which will consider the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including those with lived experience of eating disorders. The consultation process has provided invaluable feedback, and we are in the process of exploring how we best take this forward.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the National Cancer Plan will be funded; and whether the funding will include ring-fenced resources specifically for children's and young people's cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will focus on how we make things better for patients through reforming the cancer sector and improving efficiency, building on the steps announced in the Elective Reform Plan. This will support a more scrupulous and effective use of funds in the future.
At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government made nearly £26 billion available to the health and care system over two years, to fix the foundations of our broken National Health Service. We will review cancer funding, including funding for children and young people’s cancers, as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.