Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the application for a mandatory reversal of the decision of the NHS Business Services Authority with reference VAD20662 will be actioned; and for what reason it has not yet been actioned.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). It would not be appropriate to comment on the status of an individual claim to the VDPS, which is a matter for NHSBSA
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications were made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme in each of the last three years; and how many and what proportion of those applications were unsuccessful.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) regularly publishes data on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme to improve transparency. Information related to COVID-19 vaccine claim volumes and outcomes up to June 2025 is available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
Claims that have not been assessed may have been rejected before a medical assessment took place as they did not meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme. Other claims are still live, but the NHS BSA may be awaiting medical records. Medical assessments cannot take place until sufficient medical records have been received to allow for a robust assessment.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the 60% disability threshold requirement to qualify for the vaccine damage payment scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) reviewing and (b) increasing the level of payment provided under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the VDPS, to take further steps to improve the scheme, including through processing claims at a faster rate.
I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83545 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, if he will publish a version of that table covering each year for which his Department holds equivalent data.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The spend by the Department for Work and Pensions on the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is included for the available years in a table below.
Financial year | Cost (£000s) in nominal terms |
1993/94 | 26 |
1994/95 | 17 |
1995/96 | - |
1996/97 | 9 |
1997/98 | 12 |
1998/99 | - |
1999/00 | 60 |
2000/01 | 60,734 |
2001/02 | 6,525 |
2002/03 | 568 |
2003/04 | 478 |
2004/05 | 429 |
2005/06 | 500 |
2006/07 | 389 |
2007/08 | 200 |
2008/09 | - |
2009/10 | 292 |
2010/11 | 92 |
2011/12 | - |
2012/13 | - |
2013/14 | 0 |
2014/15 | 100 |
2015/16 | 240 |
2016/17 | 240 |
2017/18 | 360 |
2018/19 | 200 |
2019/20 | 300 |
2020/21 | 240 |
Source: outturn-and-forecast-tables-spring-statement-2025.xlsx
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 64393 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus, what steps he is taking to improve the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my profound and sincere sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
The Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), to take steps to improve the scheme and process claims at a faster rate. Building on work to scale up and modernise operations through the digitisation of the claims process and increasing administrative staff working on the VDPS, the NHSBSA is engaging with healthcare providers to improve the return rate of medical records, essential to assessing claims, including through submitting subject access requests.
In parallel, Ministers continue to actively consider a range of options for further reforming the VDPS.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the rate for (a) approval of claims, (b) claims overturned at review and (c) payout has been for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme since March 2022.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) provides a one-off, tax-free payment of £120,000 to claimants who have been found, in rare cases and on the balance of probabilities, to have been severely disabled by certain vaccines for a disease listed in the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979.
As of 12 November 2025, data from NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA), the administrators of the VDPS, shows that since March 2022 there have been (a) 249 successful claims made through the scheme. Of these 249 successful claims, (b) 31 were as a result of the decision being overturned after review. The 249 successful claims amounted to a total of (c) £29,880,000 in payments.
Information on COVID-19 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is published on a quarterly basis by NHSBSA. Further information is available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the medical experience requirements are for caseworkers handling vaccine damage payment claims.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Caseworkers supporting the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) are administrative staff who are not involved in the assessment of claims. Their role is to provide claimants with a consistent point of contact, manage the administrative progress of claims, communicate updates, and ensure all necessary documentation is gathered. No medical experience is required for this supportive administrative function.
All clinical assessments under the VDPS are conducted solely by medical assessors. Medical assessors are General Medical Council registered doctors who have licences to practise and at least five years' experience and must have undertaken specialised training in vaccine damage and disability assessment.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of approval rates for covid-19 vaccine injury claims in (a) the UK and (b) other jurisdictions for which figures are available.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. All claims made through the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme are assessed on a case-by-case basis by independent medical assessors. Medical assessors must be General Medical Council registered doctors with a licence to practise and at least five years’ experience and must have undertaken specialised training in vaccine damage and disability assessment.
Medical assessors will consider the claim form, the clinical research, the epidemiological evidence, the current consensus of expert medical opinion, and the claimant’s full medical records. The assessment, once complete, will then undergo assurance review.