Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure that clinical commissioning groups commission services for (a) preventing and (b) diagnosing foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Public Health England (PHE), Health Education England and NHS England continue to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant through programmes such as the NHS Maternity Transformation Programme, PHE’s Start4Life programme and Health Education England’s e-learning tool for health and care staff.

Responsibility for commissioning foetal alcohol spectrum disorder services lies with National Health Service clinical commissioning groups. The Department has asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop a Quality Standard to help improve diagnosis and care of those affected, based on the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network work developed in Scotland. This programme of work commenced this year.