Written questions by Strathern.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of prioritising issues of sexual consent in sexual health education.

The revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance was published on 15 July and sets out that secondary schools should cover the role of consent, including in romantic and sexual relationships. This includes the law about the age of consent, how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in relationships, including in early romantic relationships in all contexts, including online. The guidance also makes the point that kindness and care for others requires more than just consent.Curriculum content also includes that there are a range of strategies for identifying, resisting and understanding pressure in relationships from peers or others, including sexual pressure, and how to avoid putting pressure on others.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans on costs.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This involves ensuring that children receive the appropriate care and support whenever they need it.To support this, NHS England and the charity Starlight have jointly launched the Play Well toolkit to help services identify opportunities to improve health play services. This guidance is the first publication of its kind, and is aimed at improving the experiences of babies, children, and young people.Tools like the Play Well toolkit are intended to support best practice and reduce the need for sedation, which can contribute to better outcomes and potential cost savings. No formal assessment has yet been made of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans, specifically, on costs.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the merits of including low cost effective property flood resilience measures in (a) the Future Homes Standard and (b) building regulations.

The Government is committed to building the homes the country needs while ensuring they are safe from flooding. The Building Regulations set minimum standards for all new dwellings. The Future Homes Standard will focus on the energy efficiency and carbon emission standards within the Building Regulations and will not encompass flood resilience measures. Statutory guidance to the Building Regulations in Approved Document C promotes the use of flood resilient and resistant construction in flood prone areas, without placing undue costs onto any properties that do not require further flood resilience measures.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of producing standards on implementing sustainable urban drainage for (a) landowners, (b) local authorities and (c) businesses.

In June of this year, the Government introduced new national standards making clear that sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) should be designed to cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits in the form of flood prevention and storm overflow reduction, offering reuse opportunities, reducing run off, and helping to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. The standards should be used by local authorities when assessing applications for development which could affect drainage on or around the site, see paragraphs 181 and 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the current police widow(er)s’ pension regulations.

The 2015 police pension scheme is the scheme currently open to serving police officers. This scheme provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse. The introduction of the 2006 police pension scheme meant that all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme with such survivor benefits.For officers who joined policing prior to 2006, the 1987 police pension scheme provides a pension for the widow, widower or civil partner of a police officer who dies. In common with most other public service pension schemes of that time, these benefits cease to be payable where the widow, widower or civil partner remarries or cohabits with another partner.From 1 April 2015, the 1987 Police Pension Scheme was amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers who have died as a result of an injury on duty to receive their survivor benefits for life regardless of remarriage, civil partnership or cohabitation.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulating the locksmith industry to protect people from rogue locksmiths.

The UK's framework for occupational regulation upholds public protection, while ensuring regulatory burdens on industry are proportionate. Although the locksmithing profession is not subject to statutory regulation, several self-regulating trade associations and accreditation schemes exist within the industry and provide training, conduct criminal record checks, and inspect their members.The government keeps the occupational regulation regime under review and continues to monitor any concerns raised by the public or the industry, including those related to locksmithing.

With reference the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50325, what his planned timeline is for publishing the update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.

The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several government departments and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report at the earliest opportunity however we are not currently able to give a timeline for a response.

What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on support available for medical students.

The Department of Health and Social Care works closely with the Department for Education on an on-going basis, covering a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting medical students.For the 2025/26 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants, and all allowances by 3.1%. For the 2025/26 academic year, the Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.

Whether he plans to increase availability of Givinostat for children.

The Department understands the impact that Duchenne muscular dystrophy has on those living with it and their families, and the urgent need for new treatment options. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS independently based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by the NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. The NICE is currently evaluating givinostat for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and its independent Appraisal Committee will meet to consider the evidence in July 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to support NHS trusts to (a) recognise and (b) involve fathers as parents in (i) maternity and (ii) early childhood services.

The National Health Service’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services recognises that listening and responding to all women, their partners and families, is an essential part of enabling and delivering safe and high-quality care. There are multiple initiatives in place that recognise and involve the role of fathers and other parents. These initiatives include:- ensuring that fathers’ perspectives shape improvements to services and care, through Maternity and Neonatal Voice Partnerships;- encouraging fathers’ involvement in the care for their babies in neonatal units, through Family Integrated Care, helping to strengthen the parent-infant bond and infant health outcomes;- providing evidence-based assessments and support for partners, including fathers, through Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services. This has helped 5% to 10% of fathers experiencing mental health conditions during the perinatal period;- health visiting services that are parent focussed and which include both mothers and fathers, and which are including in perinatal mental health support; and- the Department announcing £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme for 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation in January 2025. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.

If his Department will publish data on the number of (a) fathers who have accessed perinatal mental health services and (b) maternity outreach clinics that offer (i) evidence-based mental health assessments and (ii) signposting.

The information requested is not held centrally at this level of detail. The Government is committed to improving the support available to mothers, fathers, and partners who experience mental health difficulties, including postnatal depression, during the perinatal period.Fathers and partners of women accessing specialist perinatal mental health services and maternal mental health services should be offered an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposted to sources of support as required. This can include NHS Talking Therapies services, which are available for anyone who needs support with their mental health. People can refer themselves online via the National Health Service website or by contacting their general practice.In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.

How many cases of postnatal depression involved (a) engagement with and (b) mental health assessment of the woman’s partner by the relevant service in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

The information requested is not held centrally at this level of detail. The Government is committed to improving the support available to mothers, fathers, and partners who experience mental health difficulties, including postnatal depression, during the perinatal period.Fathers and partners of women accessing specialist perinatal mental health services and maternal mental health services should be offered an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposted to sources of support as required. This can include NHS Talking Therapies services, which are available for anyone who needs support with their mental health. People can refer themselves online via the National Health Service website or by contacting their general practice.In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS services (a) engage with new fathers and (b) record their details alongside the mothers in their baby's health records.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Livingston on 31 March 2025 to Question 38280.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the safety of children online.

The government is implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible, so children can be protected from criminal behaviour and harmful content online.The illegal content duties are now in force, so platforms already need to act to protect their users.The child safety duties will be in force from the Summer, at which point companies will need to further protect children from harmful content such as pornography, suicide and self-harm material.

What steps he is taking to support climate technology start-ups.

The Government provides significant support to climate start-ups, including through the £1.3 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. The Government will set out its full approach to seizing the growth opportunities from clean energy industries in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department's proposals for planning restrictions on heat pumps will be implemented.

Nationally set permitted development rights enable the installation of air and ground source heat pumps without the need to submit a planning application. The previous government consulted on proposed changes to these rights, and on 21 November we announced our intention to amend the existing permitted development right for air source heat pumps in early 2025, to allow more flexibility in installation and size of heat pumps. Further information can be found here.

What steps her Department plans to take to reduce the backlog in driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (DTC), include the recruitment of new driving examiners (DE), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from DEs. DVSA also continues to deploy DEs from areas with lower waiting times into those where waiting times are longer. The government is considering what further actions we can take to reduce waiting times for car practical driving tests.

What support her Department provides to highways authorities to (a) adopt and (b) repair and (c)upgrade (i) unadopted and (ii) ownerless roads that form key parts of local road networks.

Unadopted roads that are not maintained at public expense by a highway authority are known as private streets, as defined by Section 203(2) of the Highways Act 1980. The responsibility for management of private streets rests with the owner, or more usually the frontagers, who are those owning property that fronts, or borders, the street concerned. The Department has published guidance on gov.uk on “Highways Adoption: The Adoption of Roads into the Public Highway”, which was last updated in August 2022. It sets out how new and existing roads can be adopted by highway authorities so that they become maintainable at public expense. Any decision to adopt roads which are not highways maintainable at public expense is a matter for the local highway authority.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme on bird species populations and their health.

The Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme is overseen by the Government Oversight Group (GOG) for Rodenticide Stewardship. This group is chaired by the Health and Safety Executive and includes representatives from relevant Government departments and agencies. It is conducting a review of rodenticide stewardship to consider how it can be strengthened in the UK. The work of this review is expected to be completed in 2025. Natural England has investigated exposure and effects of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) on non-target bird species. It commissioned the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme (PBMS) to undertake monitoring of, and reporting on, exposure of red kites to SGARs. The analysis examines data including from the Defra-funded Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme data, and the reports are published and presented to GOG annually. Secondly, to understand the implications of SGAR exposure levels on the health of predatory birds, Natural England has worked with PBMS, using red kite and buzzard exposure data to develop a statistical model, to predict the probability of mortality rates due to SGAR exposure. More data and work would be required to apply the model and directly answer the question on impacts at a population level.

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on enhancing (a) diet and (b) nutrition education in the school curriculum.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have met to discuss a range of issues and projects.This department’s independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will aim to deliver a curriculum that ensures young people leave compulsory education with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to achieve and thrive throughout life. The call for evidence is drawing to a close, but the review group will be continuing with other forms of engagement for the rest of the first term of the 2024/25 academic year.The importance of a healthy diet and good nutrition is already covered through a number of subjects in the national curriculum, including design and technology (D&T), science and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).The cooking and nutrition strand of D&T, which is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3, aims to teach children how to cook, with an emphasis on savoury dishes, and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves and others, healthy and affordable food.Similarly, in science, healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.Furthermore, within health education as a part of RSHE, it is expected that by the end of primary, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet, including understanding calories and other nutritional content, the characteristics of a poor diet and the risks associated with unhealthy eating. By the end of secondary, pupils should know how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks, including tooth decay and cancer.At GCSE, pupils can delve deeper into diet and nutrition by choosing to study Food Preparation and Nutrition. The subject requires pupils to understand and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating when preparing and cooking food.The department is also providing additional support for teachers through the Oak National Academy, who have been working to give teachers and their pupils access to free, optional and adaptable high quality digital curriculum resources. They have a wide array of lesson plans for D&T that contain healthy and tasty recipes to help children to understand the significance of what they put into their bodies.