Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that communication in (a) adoption support and (b) reunification cases is (i) timely and (ii) compliant with statutory guidance.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regional adoption agencies should clearly set out on their websites what adoption support is available, who provides it, and how families can access it. This should include an overview of universal, targeted and specialist forms of support. During the adoption assessment process, prospective adopters must also receive information, counselling and advice about adoption, including the support services they may be entitled to. In addition, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund provides nationwide access to funded post‑adoption support, including therapeutic interventions for adopted children and their families.
In early‑permanence placements such as foster‑to‑adopt, reunification may occur if the court decides a child should return to their birth family. In these circumstances, reunification must follow statutory care‑planning duties, ensuring well‑planned transitions and appropriate support for carers and parents. Adoption England’s Reunification Framework provides structured guidance for practitioners to manage these transitions safely and sensitively, ensuring the child’s needs remain central throughout the process.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents who need specialist psychological support following (a) pregnancy and (b) baby loss can access it (i) at any time and (ii) free of charge through the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Experiencing pregnancy or baby loss can be extremely difficult and traumatic. We are determined to make sure all bereaved parents, regardless of where they live, have access to specialist psychological support, free of charge through the National Health Service.
Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 integrated care boards offer a seven day a week bereavement service, with coverage in 115 out of 120 trusts.
Every trust in England has signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway. This pathway is designed to improve the quality and consistency of bereavement care for parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss. NHS England is working closely with Sands to agree what steps are necessary to support faster and more consistent implementation of the pathway so that all parents, no matter where they are, receive the support they need at such a difficult time.
As of July 2025, maternal mental health services are now available in all areas of England. These services provide specialist psychological support for women with moderate/severe or complex mental health difficulties arising from birth trauma or baby loss. More mothers than ever before, including those sadly affected by the loss of their baby or child, were able to access maternal mental health services or specialist community perinatal mental health services in the year to April 2025.
Fathers and partners can receive evidence-based assessments and support through specialist perinatal mental health services, and some NHS trusts also work with Home Start UK’s Dad Matters project to support paternal mental health. Where mothers and partners may have a need for mental health support, but it is not a moderate or severe mental health condition, it is important they can be signposted to other forms of support through their general practitioner and NHS Talking Therapies.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families who have experienced baby loss in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust all provide seven-day maternity bereavement care, meaning women and families can access support from a maternity professional trained in specialist bereavement care.
Watford General Hospital has a team of midwives who provide families with individualised support and specialist bereavement care when faced with the death of their baby. The hospital has also opened the Rose Room, a special space for families who experience the loss of a baby to spend time with their baby and begin to process their grief. There are facilities for families and siblings, including hand and foot casting services, to provide lasting memories.
The Hertfordshire Perinatal Trauma and Loss Care service is a psychology-led, county-wide specialist service for people who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties as a direct result of a perinatal loss of any kind, including loss by separation through safeguarding processes.
The charity Petals is also now able to provide specialist counselling support to bereaved parents who are Hertfordshire residents, no matter where their maternity care was delivered.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of measures to prevent child sexual exploitation; and what steps she is taking to improve support for (a) victims and (b) survivors of child sexual exploitation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office recognises the devastating impacts that child sexual exploitation and abuse can have on victims and survivors and is committed to ensuring that all victims and survivors, receive better care and support.
The Government is committed to intervening as early as possible to prevent vulnerable children and young people from experiencing child sexual abuse and exploitation.
This includes through equipping frontline professionals and safeguarding partners with the right tools and training to identify and respond effectively to child sexual abuse, and through raising awareness via communications and engagement with parents/carers and the wider public.
Through the provision of targeted support, and collaboration across the public, private and third sectors, we are also working to protect those who may be at increased risk from offenders who seek to exploit their vulnerabilities.
Prevention and education are absolutely fundamental to our approach, and we will tackle the root causes of these crimes, including supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent.
As set out in the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update in April, we are working across Government to develop ambitious proposals to improve therapeutic support services for victims of child sexual abuse.
This year the Home Office is doubling funding for adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, to a total investment of £2.59 million in the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) fund. This includes funding for support helplines, in-person and remote counselling, group support, and training for professionals working with victims.
We also recognise the importance of ensuring that all staff supporting victims have sufficient guidance on child sexual abuse to deliver effective trauma informed support. The Government is providing funding to the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to strengthen professional responses to child sexual abuse through evidence-based training and resources.
In line with the Inquiries Act 2005, the Chair of the National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, once appointed, will play a central role in shaping the inquiry’s Terms of Reference. These will be published in draft and consulted on with stakeholders, including victims and survivors, before being finalised. The Inquiry will have full statutory powers to investigate systemic and institutional failings wherever they are found.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to extend mental health education in schools to (a) colleges and (b) post-16 institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department has made health education compulsory in all state-funded schools, helping pupils to make good decisions about their health and wellbeing and seek support when needed.
While there is no national curriculum in post-16, the government encourages a whole-institution approach to mental health and wellbeing. This includes supporting the Association of Colleges in their goal for 100% sign-up to their Mental Health Charter and to align it with the University Mental Health Charter.
All further education (FE) colleges are funded to provide health and wellbeing tuition as part of their extra-curricular personal development activities. Many FE colleges have counselling services providing mental health support and 41% of learners in post-16 institutions are now covered by NHS-funded mental health support teams.
The government is committed to continuing the higher education (HE) Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The Taskforce includes students, parents, mental health experts and the HE sector, and the government will soon appoint a new HE Student Support Champion as chair.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support parents looking after ill children (a) in the long-term and (b) immediately after diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to supporting people with long term conditions and to ensuring that they receive the support they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We want a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition, and their families and carers, receive high-quality, compassionate continuity of care.
The Department is taking a range of practical steps to support parents caring for ill children. Immediately after diagnosis and in the longer term, parents may be eligible for travel cost support through the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme. In cases where a child has complex health needs, they can be assessed under the Children’s Continuing Care framework to determine appropriate ongoing support. Wider work is underway, such as the development of initiatives to support parents in hospital settings. Counselling and mental health support are typically provided through local services, and peer support is often offered by voluntary organisations.
As per Section 97 (3b) of the Children’s and Families Act 2014, parent carers have the right to request an assessment of their need for support from the local authority. Having been assessed, Section 17 (10b) of the Children’s Acts 1989 makes provision for a child whose physical or mental health is impaired, as well as his or her family, to receive the appropriate support services from the local authority.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to remove the minimum age of referral to specialist gender identity clinics.
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 does not describe a minimum age, recognising that there may be underlying reasons for children questioning their gender and that accessing mental health and counselling services would be beneficial. Denying parents and children access to professional support risks driving people to unregulated online sources.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether local authorities in Farnham and Bordon have access to a dedicated key worker for families affected by Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood; and whether there is a formal referral process to SUDC UK for additional support.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities, and the importance of raising awareness of SUDC amongst relevant professionals, communities and parents.
Information on SUDC is available at the following link, which also signposts to SUDC.UK:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/
Additional information for parents on SUDC is available in the form of the booklet "When a Child Dies".
Health visitors in particular play a key role in supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence. We are committed to strengthening health visiting services, ensuring we have the staff needed so parents and families receive appropriate care from the right professional.
Overall, local authorities determine what public health services they fund, to ensure these are tailored to their local needs. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold the health workforce data for individual local authorities or the training they receive.
In schools, the Department for Education is funding mental health and wellbeing support for school and college leaders. This includes professional supervision and counselling for those who need it. Support continues to be available and can be accessed by visiting the Education Support website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to (a) raise awareness of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood within schools and local communities and (b) provide educational materials for parents and professionals on this subject.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities, and the importance of raising awareness of SUDC amongst relevant professionals, communities and parents.
Information on SUDC is available at the following link, which also signposts to SUDC.UK:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/
Additional information for parents on SUDC is available in the form of the booklet "When a Child Dies".
Health visitors in particular play a key role in supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence. We are committed to strengthening health visiting services, ensuring we have the staff needed so parents and families receive appropriate care from the right professional.
Overall, local authorities determine what public health services they fund, to ensure these are tailored to their local needs. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold the health workforce data for individual local authorities or the training they receive.
In schools, the Department for Education is funding mental health and wellbeing support for school and college leaders. This includes professional supervision and counselling for those who need it. Support continues to be available and can be accessed by visiting the Education Support website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether health professionals in Farnham and Bordon constituency are currently receiving training on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the devastating impact of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) on affected families and communities, and the importance of raising awareness of SUDC amongst relevant professionals, communities and parents.
Information on SUDC is available at the following link, which also signposts to SUDC.UK:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/
Additional information for parents on SUDC is available in the form of the booklet "When a Child Dies".
Health visitors in particular play a key role in supporting child health, wellbeing, and parenting confidence. We are committed to strengthening health visiting services, ensuring we have the staff needed so parents and families receive appropriate care from the right professional.
Overall, local authorities determine what public health services they fund, to ensure these are tailored to their local needs. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold the health workforce data for individual local authorities or the training they receive.
In schools, the Department for Education is funding mental health and wellbeing support for school and college leaders. This includes professional supervision and counselling for those who need it. Support continues to be available and can be accessed by visiting the Education Support website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/