Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of appointments for sperm testing for fertility investigations in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Berkshire.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. ICBs are expected to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines. We are aware that compliance with these guidelines is variable.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guideline and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate. We expect this review to be published later in 2025.

The Department is working with NHS England to consider future policy options to support ICBs to provide more equitable in vitro fertilisation services.

No assessment has been made of the availability of appointments for sperm testing for fertility investigations or of the availability of fertility treatment appointments in the Slough constituency or Berkshire. This data is not collected centrally.