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1714761

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing time limits on asylum cases for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	24035
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children and young people extremely seriously and we prioritise applications from children and young people.</p><p>The Home Office does not currently have a target time for processing applications for asylum, but is committed to ensuring claims are considered without unnecessary delay. We have already made progress in prioritising claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children.</p><p>Introducing a service standard for asylum claims is a complex consideration which needs to be balanced between the requirements of operational efficiency, the needs of service users and the integrity of asylum control measures, including the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act. A project to review these considerations, along with scope and potential implementation timescales, will be undertaken. Once the project is completed, a final decision will be taken on any potential asylum claim service standards.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 08/05/2024 15:26:31 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1696750

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoner Escorts
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Court hearings have been delayed due to a (a) failure to deliver a prisoner and (b) a delay in bringing a prisoner to a court by (i) Serco and (ii) other providers of escort services.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	19051
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>The number of contractual delays at the Crown Court attributable to the two PECS suppliers, in each month from September 2023 to February 2024, is shown in the table below.</p><p>Contractual delays include both failure to deliver a prisoner, and delay in bringing a prisoner to court. In contractual terms, a delay occurs when a prisoner who is at that time the responsibility of a PECS supplier, is not available in the courtroom at the required time so that courtroom business is delayed by 15 minutes or more. Whenever a delay occurs, its cause is investigated by the PECS Management Team in His Majesty’s Prison &amp; Probation Service. During the period for which data have been provided, there were no instances of failure to deliver a prisoner: all recorded instances are attributable to delay in bringing a prisoner to court.</p><p> </p><p>PECS contractual delays to Crown Court hearings, September 2023 to February 2024</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Serco</p></td><td><p>Total moves to Crown Court</p></td><td><p>Number of contractual delays</p></td><td><p>Performance %</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>4872</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>99.90</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2023</p></td><td><p>4651</p></td><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>99.83</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2023</p></td><td><p>5408</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>99.69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2023</p></td><td><p>3803</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>99.48</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2024</p></td><td><p>5136</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>99.73</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2024</p></td><td><p>4733</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>99.86</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>GEOAmey</p></td><td><p>Total moves to Crown Court</p></td><td><p>Number of contractual delays</p></td><td><p>Performance %</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>4904</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>99.96</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct 2023</p></td><td><p>5169</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>99.95</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov 2023</p></td><td><p>5559</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>99.97</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec 2023</p></td><td><p>4419</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan 2024</p></td><td><p>5586</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb 2024</p></td><td><p>5223</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>99.99</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Gareth Bacon question first answered 26/03/2024 16:39:57 answering member 4798 label Biography information for Gareth Bacon
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693288

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Child rearing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of evidence-based parenting support for parents and families residing in local authority areas that do not offer Family Hubs.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16736 16738 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693289

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Family Hubs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding Family Hubs to all local authorities in England.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2024 answer text <p>Family Hubs are a one stop shop for families to make it easier for them to get the help they need. The government would like to see Family Hubs across the country. The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage to target the areas with the highest levels of deprivation and disproportionately poor health and educational outcomes. It is crucial that the department focuses on delivering fairly in these 75 local authorities already committed to and building the evidence base. The department has appointed Ecorys, Sheffield Hallam University and Ipsos to assess the family hubs aspect of the ‘Family Hubs and Start for Life’ programme. The newly commissioned evaluation will explore how the programme is being implemented across local authorities, where improvements can be made, and how it offers value-for-money. The department expects to publish the findings of the evaluation in late 2025.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 11/03/2024 16:19:53 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693290

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Child rearing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of (a) evidence-based parenting programmes and (b) other interventions to support parents.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16736
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16734 16738 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693292

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Child rearing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference the Social Mobility Commission's publication entitled Family and parenting programmes: rapid evidence assessment, published in October 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the role of evidence-based parenting programmes in ensuring value for money from expenditure on parenting support.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16734 16736 16739 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693293

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Child rearing: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding a digital roll out of evidence-based parenting programmes similar to the scheme announced by the Australian Federal Government in 2022.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16739
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2024 answer text <p>The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme aims to improve access to services for parents and families with children 0-19 or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities. It provides funding for parenting support as part of the Start for Life offer to be used on evidence-based programmes alongside peer support and community outreach activities.</p><p>The department has selected 75 local authorities based on levels of disadvantage. The department would like to see Family Hubs open across the country. The departments initial focus is on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently working with and building a model and evidence base. The department can then look to expand further in the future.</p><p>The published programme guide sets out requirements for local authorities to invest in evidence-based programmes with encouragement to select those that feature in published guidance, which have been rigorously evaluated and demonstrated impact.</p><p>The programme guide can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide</a>. The published guidance is available at: <a href="https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool" target="_blank">https://guidebook.eif.org.uk/programme/incredible-years-preschool</a>.</p><p>The department is working with the local authorities selected for the programme to assess delivery of all funded services in Family Hubs, and evidence-based parenting programmes are included as part of this. A comprehensive external evaluation of the parenting support offer has been commissioned and is due to report in late 2025. This evaluation will explore how well different parenting programmes have been implemented into the Family Hubs model. It will include a quasi-experimental impact evaluation that will assess the outcomes for families and an assessment of the value for money offered by the programme as a whole.</p><p>The department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through Family Hubs and as such undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department considers policies from across the world, including Australia, to inform departmental thinking. This scoping work also includes engaging with the Social Mobility Commission following their recent report into family and parenting programmes.</p><p>The department is also investing over £17 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) in order to improve the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. This evidence-based programme targets children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, and seven months for those on free school meals. Over 500,000 children have had their language screened, with 160,000 reception age children having received extra support with their speech and language development from this proven programme.</p><p>Alongside investing in parenting support and the NELI programme, the department has also launched a national media campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their pre-school children. The campaign, run jointly with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, provides evidence-based advice for parents on the NHS Better Health Start for Life website, and support from national partners on activities for parents. Little Moments Together is based on long-standing evidence on the importance of the home learning environment to providing children the best start to life. The Better Health Start for Life website can be found at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 16734 16736 16738 question first answered 22/03/2024 11:26:45 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693294

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Parents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of parenting programmes on (a) levels of expenditure associated with (i) child and adult mental health and (ii) youth anti-social behaviour and (b) the proportion of parents able to return to the workplace as a result of a reduction in school refusal rates.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16740
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2024 answer text <p>The department is clear that parents should do everything they can to ensure that their child is in school every day. Regular school attendance is vital for children’s attainment, mental wellbeing and long-term development. It is crucial that the department has a system of support in place to ensure every child attends school every day, ready to learn and thrive.</p><p>The government’s ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance, which will become statutory ahead of the next school year, includes a core set of functions that local authority attendance support staff, whether titled education welfare officers, attendance officers or early help practitioners, are expected to provide free of charge to all schools and funded centrally through the Central Schools Service Block and Supporting Families Grant. Some early adopters have reported benefits from integrating attendance into other services, and providing better, more joined up whole family support, that has the potential to reduce demand for higher cost crisis services over time.</p><p>The department’s attendance mentors pilot sees mentors supporting a group of persistently absent pupils and their families, on a one-to-one basis, to help identify and address their barriers to education. The department has had positive feedback from parents, pupils and schools who have engaged with the attendance mentors programme and have started to see some promising impact data. The department has recently announced an additional investment of £15 million to expand mentoring into ten new areas over the next three years.</p><p>The government’s Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where attendance issues are a significant concern. ‘Getting a good education’ is a headline indicator in the national Supporting Families Outcomes Framework, which requires sustained good attendance for all children in the family, across two consecutive school terms. It is important that those identifying attendance issues begin to explore and identify any issues which may be behind the attendance problems, including any needs and circumstances in the wider family as part of Early Help Assessment processes.</p><p>The department’s reforms are starting to make a difference. There were 440,000 fewer pupils persistently absent or not attending in 2022/23 than in the year before. Overall absence during the 2023/24 autumn term was 6.8%, down from 7.5% in the 2022/23 autumn term.</p><p>Alongside this, the department is currently considering options for widening access to parenting support through family hubs and is undertaking assessments of the effectiveness and value for money of evidence-based parenting programmes, as well as other forms of support for parents. As part of this work to inform future fiscal events, the department will consider the downstream economic impacts of parenting programmes.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 28/03/2024 17:31:21 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693307

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Dental Services: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing dental therapists to carry out some minor dental procedures.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2024 answer text <p>From August to September 2023, we consulted on changes to the Human Medicines Regulations, which will enable dental therapists and dental hygienists to supply and administer some medicines without the need for a prescription from a dentist, allowing therapists and hygienists to work to their full scope of practice. We will respond shortly to the consultation on the proposals. Furthermore, NHS England’s January 2023 guidance clarified that dental therapists and dental hygienists can open and close National Health Service courses of treatment and provide direct access to NHS care, where that care is within the General Dental Council scope of practice, provided that they are qualified, competent, and indemnified to do so.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 12/03/2024 13:35:30 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1693309

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Fluoride: Drinking Water
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to re-examine the use of fluoridisation of water supplies.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	16754
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2024 answer text <p>Under new legislation, we have made it simpler to start new water fluoridation schemes. Our plan to recover and reform dentistry included a long-term ambition to systematically bring water fluoridation to more of the country, as a safe and effective intervention, with a particular focus on the most deprived areas.</p><p>As a first step, we will consult on expanding existing water fluoridation in the North East. We will begin consultation early this year. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care continues to have a duty to monitor the effects of the water fluoridation schemes every four years, with the next report due in 2026.</p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 12/03/2024 13:40:35 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham