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 trends in the availability of appointments for women at contraception clinics in England and Wales.

The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including free provision of contraception. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning sexual health clinics based on local population need. The location and opening times of clinics are for local determination.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles have been developed by Public Health England to support local authorities, public health leads and other interested parties to monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their population and the contribution of local public health related systems. The Department closely monitors the range of indicators and outcomes at national level.

The provision of contraception services in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.