Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the eligibility for free Covid vaccines to people with Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 and RSV vaccination programmes is the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths.
Although RSV and COVID-19 can both cause severe disease, they differ in their epidemiology and pathology. As such, the population groups at higher risk of severe disease will not necessarily be the same for each pathogen.
The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity, following recovery from infection, and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the JCVI advised programme has moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
The Government accepted the JCVI advice for autumn 2025 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:
- adults aged 75 years old and over;
- residents in care homes for older adults;
- individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed.
In line with JCVI advice, RSV vaccination programmes were introduced in England in September 2024 to protect infants, via maternal vaccination, and older adults at greatest risk of harm from RSV infection.
As for all vaccination programmes, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn 2025 Covid-19 vaccination eligibility criteria on people with asthma; what consideration was given to including asthma as a qualifying condition for free Covid vaccination; and what assessment he has made of the affordability and pricing of privately purchased Covid vaccines for those no longer eligible for free vaccination.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has increased due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the JCVI advised programme has therefore moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
The Government has accepted the JCVI advice for autumn 2025 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:
As with other United Kingdom vaccination programmes, the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination carefully considers the evidence on the risk of illness, serious disease, or death as a consequence of infection, in specific groups, as well as cost-effectiveness analysis. Further detail can be found at the following link:
The JCVI keeps all vaccination programmes under review.
As with other vaccines provided privately, the availability and price of COVID-19 vaccines provided through the private market is a matter for the companies concerned. All those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination this autumn through the National Health Service, in line with advice by the independent expert JCVI, are encouraged to take up this offer. The national programme launched on 1 October 2025 and runs until 31 January 2026.
Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to a) issue guidance or b) take action to prevent excessive charges for privately provided COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As with other vaccines provided privately, the availability and price of COVID-19 vaccines available through the private market is a matter for the companies concerned. All those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination this autumn through the National Health Service, in line with advice by the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, are encouraged to take up this offer. The national programme launched on 1 October 2025 and runs until 31 January 2026.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) regulate the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations offered by private providers for people who are not eligible for a free vaccination.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The availability of COVID-19 vaccines to supply the private market and the price charged for private COVID-19 vaccination is a matter for the companies concerned, not for the Government. All those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination this autumn through the National Health Service, in line with advice by the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, are encouraged to take up this offer. The national programme launched on 1 October 2025 and runs until 31 January 2026.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of restricting eligibility for free covid-19 vaccinations on (a) infection rates, (b) hospital admissions and (c) mortality during winter 2025–26 on adults aged between 65 and 74 years old.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI is an independent expert committee which reviews the latest data on COVID-19 risks, vaccine safety, and effectiveness and advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccination for autumn 2025 is based on published analysis which considers the health impacts of vaccination against COVID-19 in various groups. This is available at the following link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25002452
The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the JCVI advised programme has moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
The Government has accepted the JCVI advice for autumn 2025 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:
The JCVI keeps all vaccination programmes under review.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to monitor COVID-19 through a variety of indicators and surveillance systems. Data are analysed and published by the UKHSA in weekly official statistics in the National Influenza and COVID-19 Surveillance Report. For the autumn 2025 campaign, this is available at the following link:
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of restricting eligibility for free covid-19 vaccinations on (a) infection rates, (b) hospital admissions and (c) levels of mortality during winter 2025–26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI is an independent expert committee which reviews the latest data on COVID-19 risks, vaccine safety, and effectiveness and advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccination for autumn 2025 is based on published analysis which considers the health impacts of vaccination against COVID-19 in various groups. This is available at the following link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X25002452
The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The focus of the JCVI advised programme has moved towards targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
The Government has accepted the JCVI advice for autumn 2025 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:
The JCVI keeps all vaccination programmes under review.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to monitor COVID-19 through a variety of indicators and surveillance systems. Data are analysed and published by the UKHSA in weekly official statistics in the National Influenza and COVID-19 Surveillance Report. For the autumn 2025 campaign, this is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the uptake of the Covid Booster Jab in Autumn 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
COVID-19 vaccination uptake figures are published regularly during the spring and winter campaigns, as part of the national flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been recovered by HM Revenue and Customs from furlough fraud to date.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s latest fully assured figures, covering up to the end of March 2025, have been published in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025
Across the three HMRC-administered COVID-19 support schemes Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), up to the end of March 2025, HMRC’s compliance effort on the COVID-19 schemes has prevented the payment of or recovered the overpayment of over £1.7 billion worth of grants, which is made up of £430 million prevented from being paid out and £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments.
Of the overall £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments, £920 million relates to CJRS.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud, therefore our data does not distinguish between error and fraud.
HMRC also introduced dedicated voluntary disclosure portals where claimants can voluntarily repay a COVID-19 support scheme grant, either because they have identified an overpayment of a grant or if they no longer require it. These repayment facilities have so far resulted in unprompted disclosures and voluntary repayments of over £1 billion for CJRS, £51 million for SEISS, and £2 million for EOHO.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish a list of businesses that have been required to repay fraudulently claimed furlough money.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe’s final report to Parliament found many schemes were rolled out with huge fraud risks and no early safeguards – costing the taxpayer millions.Weak accountability, bad quality data and poor contracting were identified as the primary causes of the £10.9 billion pound losses – which were enough to fund daily free school meals for the UK’s 2.7 million eligible children for eight years.
This government has already recouped almost £400m of Covid support cash.
The government has already actioned many of the Commissioner’s early proposals. These include:
HMRC has a “Publishing Details of Deliberate Tax Defaulters” programme which publishes details of deliberate tax defaulters on Gov.uk, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs expects to recover from outstanding furlough fraud investigations.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe’s final report to Parliament found many schemes were rolled out with huge fraud risks and no early safeguards – costing the taxpayer millions.Weak accountability, bad quality data and poor contracting were identified as the primary causes of the £10.9 billion pound losses – which were enough to fund daily free school meals for the UK’s 2.7 million eligible children for eight years.
This government has already recouped almost £400m of Covid support cash.
The government has already actioned many of the Commissioner’s early proposals. These include: