Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to birth control for women.

We are committed to ensuring the public receive the best possible contraceptive services. We recently announced a £25 million investment over the next two years to accelerate the development of women’s health hubs. Women across England will benefit from tailored health care and support by the new hubs, improving access and quality of care for women’s health services including contraception.

Furthermore, in April we introduced the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service. This service offers greater choice in how people can access contraception services. At this moment, community pharmacies can manage ongoing oral contraception for women. We will expand this service from late 2023 to enable pharmacies to also initiate oral contraception, dependent on findings from pilots currently underway.