Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to educate primary school children about the harmful effects of FGM as part of relationships and sex education; and to include any such information in any relevant guidance issued to teachers.

The government is committed to protecting young people from harm, including the horrific crime of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), perpetrated against some of the most vulnerable children in society. Through the introduction of compulsory relationships and sex education (RSE) in all secondary schools, we will ensure that pupils are fully aware of the illegality of FGM and that it will not be tolerated. This has been included, alongside topics such as honour-based abuse, grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse, as core content for secondary pupils in the updated draft statutory guidance for relationships education, RSE and health education. Through these subjects we want to support all children to be healthy, happy and safe; arming them with the knowledge to recognise unhealthy behaviour in relationships, and how to seek help when necessary.

At primary level, we are introducing compulsory relationships education for all pupils, to put in place the building blocks for developing healthy relationships. There is no statutory requirement for schools to deliver teaching on FGM at primary, but schools are free to build on the core content to reflect the needs of their cohort of pupils. If a school considers the teaching of FGM to be age-appropriate for their pupils at primary, they are free to deliver this.

There will be a legal requirement for schools to consult with parents in the development of their policies for both relationships education and RSE. During this consultation, schools should share example resources with parents and ensure they understand the age-appropriate content that their child will receive. Schools will continue to be free to choose materials that are age-appropriate and sensitive to the needs of their pupils. Many organisations already provide high quality resources to support this teaching – schools can consider, for example, drawing on the expertise of the main subject associations, who also quality assure third party resources from expert organisations on specific topics.

We have committed to supporting schools and teachers to deliver these subjects to a high standard. We have an initial budget of £6 million for the 2019-20 financial year to develop a programme of support for schools, which will include supporting them to make appropriate choices regarding resources.