Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of vaccine uptake in schools.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors uptake of childhood and adolescent vaccinations via the school-based programmes and publishes this in annual coverage reports. Uptake across the programmes has shown a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with some evidence of stabilisation during the academic year 2023/24. The reports are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake

NHS England, in conjunction with regional colleagues, has produced a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination school-aged immunisation improvement and uptake plan for internal operational National Health Service use, as part of their commitment to improving vaccine coverage.

In addition, NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the HPV vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.