Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the endorsement by the Ockenden Review, published on 30 March, of the recommendations of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee's report The safety of maternity services in England (Session 2021–22, HC19).

We have committed to implement the specific recommendations made by the Ockenden Review. This includes £127 million for maternity services in England to increase the workforce and fund programmes to strengthen leadership and retention. This is in addition to £95 million announced in 2021 to support the recruitment of 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians and multi-disciplinary team training.

The Review endorsed the Department’s plans to create a special health authority to continue the maternity investigation programme run by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch. We will continue to plan for the special health authority to commence its work from April 2023.