Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of increasing the minimum age for women receiving smear tests to 25 on cervical cancer detection rates in women under that age.
In 2012 the United Kingdom National Screening Committee made a recommendation that the age of first invitation for cervical screening should be 25. This was based on a review which looked at the latest available evidence on risks and benefits for cervical screening in women aged 20-24.