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 ensure that the National Maternity Taskforce includes balanced representation between (a) professional bodies and (b) families with lived experience of maternity services.

The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will be made of up a breadth of expertise. This will include people who bring clinical and international perspectives, those who can speak to the inequalities within maternal health, workforce representatives, and families with lived experience.

We are currently engaging with families, including service user representatives, as well as other individuals and organisations in the maternity and neonatal sector, on the make-up of the taskforce and its terms of reference, and we will carefully consider their feedback.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring the voices of women and families are at the heart of improving maternity and neonatal care.