Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the list of conditions eligible for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction.

We cannot be sure from our records how many times the list of medical conditions which provide eligibility for a medical exemption certificate has been reviewed since its introduction in 1968.

The most recent external review commenced in 2008 when the then Prime Minister announced the addition of cancer to the list of conditions which would be eligible for a medical exception certificate, and announced at the same time that there would be a review by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore on how to implement exemptions for all those with long term conditions. The report of the Gilmore review was published in May 2010, and it was announced in the 2010 spending review that the recommendations made in the report would not be implemented in light of the financial situation. There are no current plans to undertake a further review of the list.