The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)
It is a pleasure to respond on behalf of the Government to such a constructive and heartfelt debate. I thank everybody for their contributions, and I particularly thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) for securing it and for her opening speech, in which she reflected not only her own personal experience but her long-standing efforts to champion these issues on behalf of so many children and families outside this place. This House is better for it.
I will turn to a few of the contributions to the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) highlighted the brilliant work being done by Vanessa Thomson and her team at Oakwood primary school in her constituency, which reflects the importance of what happens in classrooms and the essential role that teachers play. I will say a bit more about that later.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Kevin Bonavia) spoke about his experience of meeting petitioners Mark and John and the power of people sharing their experiences, which is probably the thing I will take away from this debate more than anything. He also shared his very painful experience of losing his younger brother. I am sure that his brother would be very proud of him, hearing the speech he gave today.
Finally, the hon. Member—my hon. Friend—for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) talked about her personal experience and those of her children, and in particular the long tail of the effect on families of losing a loved one, needing to navigate that alone and the isolation that must come from that. The point that she made on bereavement support was valid and well made. That is not within my gift as a Minister at the Department for Education, but I would be very happy to facilitate a meeting with the Minister who is responsible for those issues.
As we have heard, bereavement cuts across all our lives and is something that we will all experience—it is universal. Responsibility for bereavement crosses boundaries between Departments, and I am pleased to be responding to the debate on behalf of the Government as the Minister for Children and Families. Grief comes to all of us, although we experience it uniquely and at different times. Loss can be particularly hard for children. It is therefore vital that young people are helped and have someone to turn to for support when they need it.
Given my role as a Minister at the Department for Education, I will start and focus most on the role of schools, where the Government have taken important steps to support bereaved children. On 15 July last year, we published revised relationships, sex and health education curriculum guidance, with a focus on supporting young people to develop resilience and to live healthy, full lives. During the consultation process, we heard that the RSHE curriculum should do more to recognise bereavement. We have listened carefully, including to many of the organisations referenced by Members today. As a result, for the first time, the guidance contains new content about coping strategies for dealing with issues such as anxiety, and specifically covers issues such as loneliness and bereavement.
As a society, we should become more open to discussing loss, as Members have said, and the guidance is an important step towards opening up that conversation with our young people in a sensitive and early way. Teachers can also draw on a wide range of external expertise and resources to help tailor their lessons. I want to express my gratitude to organisations such as the Anna Freud Centre and the National Association of Funeral Directors that provide invaluable support to children and young people coping with loss and bereavement.
In developing the guidance, we worked closely with experts on childhood bereavement, including the Childhood Bereavement Network. I am extremely grateful for its help, as well as that of all the other organisations and individuals who contributed to the guidance. I also want to thank individuals including Caroline Booth, who my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Kate Dearden) drew to my attention.
Schools can choose to adopt the revised RSHE statutory guidance now and, in response to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage, will be required to teach the new content from September this year. The roll-out of the new guidance has been supported by many of the organisations that helped to develop it, which are working on quality materials for teachers to use in our schools. Schools also have a wider role to play in supporting the resilience and mental health of children and young people. That is why we have made mental wellbeing, as well as health education, compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
Pupils should be aware that change and loss, including bereavement, can provoke a range of feelings, that grief is a natural response to bereavement, and that everyone grieves differently. Pupils are taught how to recognise and talk about their emotions, including having a varied vocabulary of words to use when talking about their own and others’ feelings, and how to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate. Pupils are taught to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support. They are taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions. The Government are committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, and will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams, so that every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
Of course, for whatever reason, young people may not always want to access support at school, so it is important to look for ways to better help young people to access alternative sources of support, including the fantastic support available in the charitable sector. Members have mentioned a number of organisations, which I congratulate on the work that they do across the country. To name just two that have not so far been mentioned, officials in my Department recently met representatives of Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which provides support to children and families of the armed services, and Sibling Support, a UK-wide charity providing critical help to children who suffer the heartbreaking loss of a sibling. Last year, we added new links to key gov.uk pages for those who have suffered a bereavement that previously included no reference to children. I thank the Childhood Bereavement Network for its support, with the Department, in ensuring that that happened.
The shadow Education Secretary, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), mentioned the importance of cross-Government working. We have continued to ensure that consideration of children remains a priority for the cross-Government bereavement working group, which is chaired by the Department of Health and Social Care and takes its membership from a broad range of Departments. The group meets quarterly and continues to consider options for improving services for all bereaved people, including bereaved children.
The group was formed following the UK Commission on Bereavement report in 2022, “Bereavement is Everyone’s Business”. In November 2025, the UKCB steering group, including members from the Childhood Bereavement Network, attended a meeting of the cross-Government bereavement working group to share progress on its report’s recommendations and discuss further work. Furthermore, during National Grief Awareness Week in December, Baroness Merron attended the annual meeting of the UKCB commissioners, which was chaired by the now Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, to discuss progress on implementing the report’s recommendations and hear from adults and children with direct experience.
In summary, bereavement will come to all of us—very sadly, for some it will be when they are still young and figuring out the world. I know that all those who have spoken today and the many experts and charities working in this area share a commitment to ensuring that every child is aware of and able to access the support that they need to navigate some of the most difficult times that they will ever experience. I thank everyone for contributing to the debate, and for being prepared to share very personal and moving stories; I hope they feel that everyone in the Chamber was willing them on to do so. Again, I pay tribute and give deep thanks to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West for her passion and her continued campaigning in this area. I look forward to working with her in the future to make progress in this essential field.