Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of routinely (a) recording and (b) matching new fathers’ health records to those of their children.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not carried out a recent assessment of the merits of routinely recording and matching new fathers’ health records to those of their children.

The Personal Demographics Service (PDS) can record many relationships, including 'mother', 'father' and 'parent'. If a baby is born in England, then the midwife will create a PDS record and grant them a National Health Service number. They will link the birth mother's record to the child, and if the local maternity system supports it, they could also add the second parent at that time.

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 the (a) mental and (b) physical health of (i) fathers and (ii) their (A) partners and (B) families in the perinatal period.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

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 (a) create a pathway for (i) expectant and (ii) new fathers and (b) ensure that NHS staff are trained to (A) engage with and (B) provide (1) information and (2) support to fathers.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Listening and responding to all women and families, including expectant and new fathers, is an essential part of providing safe and high-quality care. There are multiple actions in place that recognise and involve new and expectant fathers. These include:

• ensuring that fathers’ perspectives shape improvements to services and care, through Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships;
• encouraging fathers’ involvement in care for their babies in neonatal units, through Family Integrated Care, helping to strengthen the parent-infant bond and improve infant health outcomes;
• providing evidence-based mental health 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;
• ensuring that health visiting services are parent focussed and include both mothers and fathers, including in perinatal mental health support; and
• offering antenatal education services which are available to women and their families, including fathers, in the majority of trusts.

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.

Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients.

To support employers, NHS England has launched a number of initiatives to ensure that NHS staff are trained to engage with and provide information and support to fathers. This includes an e-learning module on handling difficult situations, and a Core Competency Framework, which sets out clear expectations for all trusts, aiming to address known variations in training and competency assessments. The framework includes a module on equality, equity, and personalised care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pregnant women were accompanied by (a) the child's father and (b) their partner during (i) antenatal booking-in appointments and (ii) antenatal scans in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on how many pregnant women were accompanied by the child's father and their partner during antenatal booking-in appointments and antenatal scans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times were the partners of women diagnosed with postnatal depression (a) engaged with and (b) assessed for their mental health by NHS mental health services in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England collects some management data on the mental health service offers made to partners. However, this data is not centrally validated.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of religious education teacher trainees held degrees in subjects other than religious education in the 2024-25 academic year; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the subject knowledge enhancement grant for religious education on the quality of religious education provision.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Religious education (RE) is not a degree subject recognised by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The closest subject in HESA’s Common Aggregation Hierarchy is theology and religious studies. In 2024/25, there were 444 new entrants to RE initial teacher training (ITT), for whom we have data on first degree subject. Of these, 89 (20%) had degrees in subjects categorised as theology and religious studies, and 355 (80%) had degrees in other subjects. Some degree subjects, such as philosophy, that are not included within theology and religious studies, may contain relevant content for RE. It is the responsibility of the accredited ITT provider to determine the suitability of a candidate applying for ITT. The department publishes the ITT criteria which sets out the minimum requirements that a candidate must meet to be eligible for ITT.

The department continually reviews the support available to trainee teachers and the annual review of the subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) package will take place before the new academic year to ensure that available SKE provision is focused on the candidates who need it the most.

The department remains committed to recruiting the teachers we need. We have announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £233 million for the 2025/26 ITT recruitment cycle, a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a £10,000 tax-free bursary for RE trainee teachers.

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: Amesbury Mr Alex Barros-Curtis Markus Campbell-Savours Sir Christopher Chope Sarah Coombes Kirith Entwistle

Found: 16 of 16 (100.0%) Chris Elmore (Labour, Bridgend) (added 9 Sep 2024) 8 of 16 (50.0%) Kirith Entwistle

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: Kirith Entwistle: That is not going to happen.

Found: NC28 to NC30 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: NC21 to NC27 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle Katrina

Found: NC19 and NC20 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: Amendment: NC18 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: 13 and NC17 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: NC15 and NC16 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: NC13 and NC14 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: NC11 and NC12 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: NC9 and NC10 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

The Women and Equalities Committee will examine the health impacts of breast implants and other cosmetic procedures. This inquiry will explore the safety and regulation of both surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures, including how risks are communicated and managed.