Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training medical assessors of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations receive; what qualifications are needed to become such an assessor; what continuing professional development requirements must such assessors meet; whether such assessors are required to work in-person and not remotely; and to what supervision are such assessors subject.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Medical assessments are carried out by an independent, third-party supplier. The supplier manages the medical assessors' training and work arrangements, organises for each medical assessment to be peer reviewed by another medical assessor, and is responsible for ensuring that medical assessors continue their professional development.

All medical assessors are General Medical Council (GMC) registered doctors with a license to practise and a minimum of five years' post graduate experience. They are held to strict professional standards set by the GMC and, in addition to their five years’ post graduate experience, assessors must have experience of undertaking a medical and/or disability assessment, and of addressing questions of causation and impact in the context of legislative or policy requirements.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) medical assessors are in post; and how many assessors have left since the roll-out of the VDPS to covid-19 vaccinations.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The number of medical assessors is managed by a third-party supplier and varies depending on the volume of claims received, as well as the volume of medical records received from healthcare providers. Since COVID-19 was added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Act 1979, the number of medical assessors assessing claims has significantly increased.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal; how many and what proportion of such requests (a) were rejected and (b) have been outstanding for more than (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) 12 months; and how many and what proportion of rejected requests were referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As of 27 February 2025, 1,657 applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal. Re-assessment has been completed for 1,073 of these applications, with 21, or 2% of, decisions reversed. A reversal does not mean that the original decision was incorrect, as claimants provide additional information during the mandatory reversal process which can alter the outcome of the assessment.

Of the outstanding claims, 333, or 20% of the total mandatory reversal applications, have been outstanding for more than three months. Of those, 200, or 12%, have been outstanding for more than six months, and of those 81, or 5%, have been outstanding for more than 12 months. 69, or 7% of, rejected mandatory reversals have been referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Arm's-Length Bodies there were (a) on 4 July 2024 and (b) as of 5 March 2025; and how many of the latter have an annual operating expenditure in excess of £5 million.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

On 4th July 2024, there were 307 Arm’s-Length Bodies. Of these, 135 had an annual operating expenditure (RDEL spend) in excess of £5 million in FY23/24.

The Cabinet Office commissions data around six months after the end of each financial year to allow for financial statements of each ALB to be finalised, meaning we will start collecting data for March 2025 later in 2025.

Cap exemption under Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Found: November 2024 Members present1 Cat Smith, in the Chair 2 James Asser Bambos Charalambous Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; David Baines; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bill Esterson (Chair); Ms Polly Billington; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; David Baines; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Committee was chaired by Clive Betts (Lab), Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 21st October 2024

Found: Briefing, 5 March 2025 6 Appendix 3: Members of public bill committee The chairs were Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 21st October 2024

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 21st October 2024

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 21st October 2024

Found: Presented by Sir Christopher Chope Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 21st October 2024

Submit Evidence (by 9 May 2025)

One of the most frequently raised areas of interests during the committee’s call for views has been accessibility.