Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in developing guidance for schools on the teaching of relationship and sex education as required by section 34 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017; when they expect the draft guidance to be published; and when they expect to lay the relevant regulations before Parliament.

The Children and Social Work Act (2017) places a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to make Relationships Education mandatory in all primary schools, and Relationships and Sex Education mandatory in all secondary schools, in England.

As part of our next steps, the Department intends to conduct thorough and wide ranging engagement on Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education. This will determine the content of the regulations and statutory guidance, covering subject content, school practice and quality of delivery. We will ensure the subjects are carefully designed to safeguard and support pupils whilst being deliverable for schools.

The Department is committed to this programme of work and will set out shortly more details about the engagement process, the timetable and the work to consider age appropriate subject content.

This will result in draft regulations and guidance on which we will consult. Following consultation, the regulations will be laid in the House allowing for a full and considered debate.