To ask the Minister of Health for his assessment of the recommendation within A Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum that his Department and the Department of Education jointly release guidance for parents on the amount of screentime that is healthy for children and to support parents with alternative ideas for supporting children’s play through Sure Start and Health Visits.

I am advised by the Department of Education that while the Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum notes the issue of screen time, no recommendations were contained within the report on this issue.

The Department of Education’s Sure Start programme is delivered in collaboration with the Department of Health. Sure Start engages parents in enhancing the education, health and social development of their children and the promotion and provision of stimulating play is an important aspect of the programme. Sure Start Screen Time guidance already presents key messages for digital usage by both parents and young children, which are reinforced by regular engagement with parents.

The UK CMOs published 2019 guidance on 'Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing'. There are no plans to update this guidance and this Department is not currently considering producing specific guidance on screen time.