Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 18 December 2024 (HL3350), what is the status of each of the recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officers in their commentary on Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing: a systematic map of reviews, published on 7 February 2019.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is an independent advisor to the Government, and any CMO reports are produced independently. The recommendations are advisory, to inform policy development.
In June 2019, at the request of the then United Kingdom’s CMOs, the then Chief Scientific Advisor convened a workshop to bring together a range of academic experts and funding bodies to discuss future research possibilities around screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health. The workshop aimed to identify avenues for undertaking future research and funding in this area, and recommended that a methodology panel was convened to improve research methods, and that children and young people’s user needs were scoped out, to determine research priorities.
These recommendations align with the UK Mental Health Research Goals for 2020 - 2030, which includes developing research to halve the number of children and young people experiencing persistent mental health problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to commission research in this area to support and improve evidence-based practice. As part of this, the NIHR is currently funding research to explore the impact that school policies which restrict daytime use of smartphones and social media have on adolescent mental wellbeing.
The Department for Education is currently reviewing the statutory guidance on teaching relationships, health, and sex education, and as part of this, will consider whether additional or revised content should be included in the guidance, including content regarding online safety and harm.
Since 2022, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has provided £3 million in funding for media literacy projects that empower users to navigate the online world safely. In 2024, this included £500,000 to scale up two programmes to provide media literacy support to teachers, children aged 11 to 16 years old, and other professionals working with families, parents, and carers.
The Online Safety Act updated Ofcom’s statutory duty to promote media literacy and to raise the public’s awareness of the nature and impact of harmful content and online behaviour. Ofcom has published a three-year media literacy strategy which includes investigating specific impacts of platform design on user safety, such as the impact of persuasive design on children. The Government looks forward to working with them as they implement these strategies.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 12 December 2024 (HL3041), what plans they have to introduce guidance for parents of babies and children under five on screen time and phone use through midwifery, health visiting or GP services.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Across departments, this government is considering the recommendations of the previous Education Committee’s report ‘Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing’, including the report’s recommendations on guidance for parents.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken with teacher training providers to incorporate the latest evidence on mobile phones, social media and mental health into their curricula.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The mandatory Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework have been designed to set out the minimum entitlement of knowledge, skills and experiences that trainees need to enter the profession. This includes requiring all trainees to learn how to contribute positively to the wider school culture and develop a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils in the school.
The framework is not a curriculum and ITT and Early Career providers, or those schools adopting the school-led approach to deliver the Early Career Teacher Entitlement, must use the framework to create a full curriculum. This includes integrating additional analysis and critique of theory, research, and expert practice as they consider best suited to their curriculum. We recognise that research and evidence is constantly evolving, including evidence on mobile phones, social media and mental health and providers may seek to incorporate this in their curricula.
Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge the development and training that teachers in their schools need to support their pupils.
Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. Additionally, the government’s non-statutory guidance supports schools on how to develop, implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Headteachers are responsible for implementation of guidance within their schools.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Ofsted has to incorporate evidence on mobile phones into its Education Inspection Framework and inspector training.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the noble Lady directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the next iteration of the National Behaviour Survey.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The National Behaviour Survey annual report for the 2023/24 academic year is expected to be published in spring 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to legislate to remove or amend any nutrient neutrality rules restricting housebuilding.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Nutrient neutrality advice affects 8% of national housing delivery or 14% of England’s land area, equating to 16,500 dwellings per year if housing delivery were to remain at recent levels. The Government is committed to finding solutions to support the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections. We are working with nature organisations, other stakeholders, and the sector to determine the best way forward. If legislation is required for the purposes of enabling development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will provide the necessary legislative underpinning to unlock a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature. We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. We will conduct a full impact assessment ahead of any changes to legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing or amending nutrient neutrality rules on housebuilding.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Nutrient neutrality advice affects 8% of national housing delivery or 14% of England’s land area, equating to 16,500 dwellings per year if housing delivery were to remain at recent levels. The Government is committed to finding solutions to support the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections. We are working with nature organisations, other stakeholders, and the sector to determine the best way forward. If legislation is required for the purposes of enabling development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will provide the necessary legislative underpinning to unlock a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature. We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. We will conduct a full impact assessment ahead of any changes to legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many homes they predict will need to be delivered across the Greater London area to house the predicted additional 434,000 people who will be living there by 2028 compared to 2018.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer given to Question UIN 3005 on 9 September.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties they intend to impose on the Mayor of London should he fail to meet London’s housing delivery target.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should monitor progress in building out sites which have permission. The Government publishes the Housing Delivery Test results for each local authority in England annually, which is a percentage measurement calculated over a rolling three-year period, taking into account the homes delivered in an area against the homes required. The latest Housing Delivery Test results, published in December 2023, measures delivery over the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 financial years. Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy consequences for local planning authorities whose housing delivery has fallen below their housing requirement.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delivery of housing in London in each of the past five years for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should monitor progress in building out sites which have permission. The Government publishes the Housing Delivery Test results for each local authority in England annually, which is a percentage measurement calculated over a rolling three-year period, taking into account the homes delivered in an area against the homes required. The latest Housing Delivery Test results, published in December 2023, measures delivery over the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 financial years. Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy consequences for local planning authorities whose housing delivery has fallen below their housing requirement.