Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups have decommissioned IVF services in each of the last five years.

It is the Government's policy that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on the assessment and treatment of people with fertility problems when commissioning services for which they are responsible. This includes the recommendation in the guideline that three cycles of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) be offered to qualifying couples where the woman is under the age of 40 and one cycle where the woman is between the ages of 40 and 42.

The NICE guideline is evidence based best practice for clinicians but is not mandatory. The availability of National Health Service funded fertility treatment is and always has been a matter for local determination. Decisions on the level of service provision are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs and priorities.

No such assessment has been made. The impact of fertility problems on patients is included in the NICE fertility guideline. The Government therefore recognises that infertility can and does have a powerful and lasting impact on the quality of life of those affected.

To provide safeguards against CCGs decommissioning IVF services completely, all IVF service changes must meet the four tests for local reconfiguration plans set out in the Government Mandate to NHS England. These are:

- Support from commissioners;

- Strong public and patient engagement;

- Clear clinical evidence base; and

- Support for patient choice.

There are no plans to introduce any additional duties in respect of fertility services.

Information about CCGs that have decommissioned IVF services is not collected centrally.