Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of anti-vaccination messages on the uptake of all routine pre-school vaccinations.

England’s national vaccination programme is well-regarded globally, with uptake levels for most of our pre-school vaccinations above 90%. Parental attitudinal surveys conducted by Public Health England demonstrate that there is high confidence in our vaccine programmes and that 94% of parents rate the National Health Service as the most trusted source of information on immunisation.

However, despite a recent uptick in vaccination uptake rates, the Department remains concerned about the slow and steady decline in vaccine uptake rates since 2013. Whilst the impact of anti-vaccination messaging on uptake is hard to quantify, we take the issue of misinformation about vaccines extremely seriously. We are working across Government and with social media companies on innovative ways to tackle the proliferation of anti-vaccine messaging on their sites and ensuring that reputable sources are the most prominent.