Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of clinical commissioning groups offer three full cycles of IVF treatment paid for by the NHS.

In England and Wales, guidance on the provision of National Health Service funded in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment services is provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in its guideline ‘Fertility: Assessment and treatment for people with fertility problems’. To assist clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to effectively commission IVF services for their local population, the Department, NHS England, professional and stakeholder groups are working together to develop a benchmark price for IVF to ensure that CCGs can get best value for their money. Additionally, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, has developed commissioning guidance to improve the quality of commissioning. NHS England has agreed to disseminate and promote the guidance to all CCGs in England.

The provision of funded treatment services in other parts of the United Kingdom is a matter for the devolved administrations.

Information on local provision of NHS funded IVF treatment is not collected centrally. A survey carried out by Fertility Fairness in 2016 indicated that 16% of CCGs in England offered three cycles of IVF to qualifying couples.