Sharon Hodgson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Minister in his Department is leading on infant feeding policy; for what reasons England has no ministerial infant feeding lead; and for what reasons England does not have a national infant feeding committee with measurable targets as suggested for all member states as part of the WHO Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding.

Ben Gummer

As Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Quality I have responsibility for breastfeeding (also called infant feeding) policy as I am the lead for maternity policy more widely. In addition, for clarity, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) leads on the related area of children’s health and also has responsibility for health visitors.

The Department hosts a National Infant Feeding Steering Group which meets quarterly to promote evidence based policy and practice through communication and information sharing.

The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme. Breastfeeding is included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework so that the improvements can be tracked, and action taken as needed.