Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) costs, and (2) benefits, of providing women with post-delivery contraception; and what plans they have to include such provision in their sexual and reproductive health strategy.

In 2018, Public Health England (PHE) made an Economic Analysis Estimation of the Return on Investment (ROI) for publicly funded contraception in England. This cost-benefit analysis showed a significant ROI of publicly funded contraception, £9 for every £1 invested over 10 years. PHE is developing an extension of the original ROI tool to estimate the specific ROI of post-delivery contraception provision, which will be published in spring 2021.

The Government plans to publish a sexual and reproductive health strategy in 2021. Whilst details of the scope and objectives will be announced in due course, improving access to contraception will be a key theme of the new strategy.