Speeches by Craft.

“VE Day, especially this year, offers us a chance to reflect with gratitude on the sacrifices made by those in the armed forces and those on the home front to defend our way of life and freedoms from tyranny. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Thurrock museum’s exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of vic…”

“School support staff, teaching assistants and learning support assistants—the unsung heroes of our schools—often provide that crucial day-to-day support for children with SEND. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that we upskill our school support workforce so that they are best placed to support those children…”

“I would be up for widening it. Down’s syndrome is the most common chromosomal condition, so obviously the prevalence of regression will be higher than across the general population. It also presents an opportunity: if you understand regression and know how to treat it in Down’s syndrome, you can widen that to other chr…”

“It could be. I think they are asking for a research pathway, so it probably is a health focus. They want us to actually create guidance that says, “This is the kind of thing you need to look out for, this is what you need to identify, and it very much is a medical condition.””

“I know. You can blame my office for that one—not that I am throwing them under the bus or anything.”

“Yes. Down’s syndrome regression disorder is a fairly niche but horrific condition, which, as the name suggests, affects people with Down’s syndrome. It is believed that between 1% and 2% of young people are affected. Put simply, they basically lose themselves almost overnight. There is very little research being done o…”

“I think it is mainly Health. The spectrum of people that it covers will usually be from the onset of puberty to their early or late 20s. That is the age that it covers, so it will be Health. Again, people are asking for education providers to be able to notice this sudden change in a child and know how to act on it.”

“I will move on quickly, because I know that others need to get in. Turning back to the reform of the NHS and NHS England, how are you going to make sure that the reforms are used to strengthen both clinician and patient voices and put them at the centre of the heart of what you do?”

“One final question on this before we move on, coming back to the comments about the overdiagnosis of mental health. I wonder if there is some pressure—a view that there are people who potentially have been overdiagnosed with a mental health condition and who are off work but could be in work. Is there any leniency in t…”

“You said it is up to you, but has there been any discussion about where this lies budgetarily? I am aware that Westminster probably suffers from silo working as much as anywhere else. If you read the Green Paper in a certain light, it does feel very much like a pushback from DWP, saying, “we should not necessarily be p…”

“Before I get on to the questions I have written down, I would like to circle back to some of the discussions around welfare reform. It strikes me that your Department has a particularly strong role to play in making sure that this is a success and delivers what it says on the tin. I am particularly interested in the fa…”

“As a SEND parent, my view of my child’s needs is holistic: I do not believe that they simply stop where the responsibilities of a local authority lie. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that our SEND policy reflects such needs and the responsibilities of, for instance, the Department of Health and Social Care,…”

“Do you think the way the gaming industry interacts and operates is creating a generation of people who are hooked on this behaviour? Lucy, you have spoken a lot about children gambling.”

“Are the current safeguards around gambling advertising sufficient to protect young people and children? If not—I see you are all shaking your heads—what needs to change?”

“Is it fair to say that the gambling industry is targeting children to create a new customer base? Or is that going a stretch too far?”

“Is there an issue specifically around social media for younger people? The way they consume data is perhaps different from how our generation does. Does more need to be done around how young people interact with things like Instagram and TikTok?”

“I would like to turn to the impact on children and young people. Lucy, you have mentioned several times the issue of children gambling. First, I am interested in the ages that this encompasses. Is it those just under 18, or are we seeing younger and younger people getting involved? I know there are some safeguards in p…”

“Would you say that patients experience a lack of accountability at the moment that they find quite frustrating? You are concerned about the population growing and accountability diminishing, so what would work?”

“Good morning. I am interested to bear down on what will be the impact of the NHS reorganisation on patients. What kind of differences would we expect patients to see due to the reorganisation in the short, medium and long terms?”

“Sharon, what are patients not experiencing at the moment—in terms of how much their voice is heard in the current system—that you think they could experience under a new system? Also, where are the blockages that should be taken care of in a redesigned NHS?”