Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase cervical screening uptake among women in (a) Newcastle, (b) the North-East and (c) England; and if he will make a statement.

Public Health England and its partners are carrying out a range of activities which will promote a clearer understanding of why uptake is different amongst various groups and also hopefully improve uptake. These activities include:

- Gathering, synthesising and producing more evidence to inform and change practice;

- Data and information – access to data, cleansing, benchmarking for providers, timely and useful information for commissioners;

- Behavioural insight – communication with commissioners, providers, patients and public;

- Commissioning levers – commissioning contracts in public health (Section 7a) and primary care, inclusion of work to increase uptake and decease inequalities in Section 7a specifications;

- Partnership work – relationships with commissioners and providers, working with the charities to understand and improve access and awareness; and

- Sharing best practice – what works well, evaluation and how to embed quality improvement.

There is also the human papillomavirus (HPV) adolescent vaccination programme for girls which is well established in the United Kingdom and expected to have a significant impact on reducing cervical cancer. Since the start of the programme in 2008, more than 8.5 million doses of the HPV vaccine have been given in the UK, with close to 90% of eligible teenagers vaccinated.