Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 16
Fifth Report - The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in young people and other high risk groups
Published 26 Mar 2024
Paragraph 70
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Prevalence of STIs among young people All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government must ensure that the sexual healthcare system works more efficiently and effectively to arrest and reverse the trend in sexually transmitted infections. This will require longer term work to carefully consider how the different parts of the system can work together to achieve this. The Government should work with the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, NHS leaders, the Local Government Association and education bodies to develop the coherent, cross-sector strategy on sexual health it committed to in 2019. It is unacceptable that five years on, no progress has been made. Young people are at the start of their sexual journey. Such a strategy should begin by meeting their needs.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, Fifth Report - The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in young people and other high risk groups (HC 463), paragraph 70, 26 March 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 May 2025 (deadline 26 May 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response to the Committee's recommendations is mixed: it accepts some, partially accepts most, and gives its reasons and commitments for each.
- On the public health grant, the government "partially accepts" the call for a radical increase, noting a 2025/26 rise to £3.858 billion and that, "Subject to the spending review", it "will aim to issue multi-year allocations from 2026/27 onwards".
- On assessing repeated tendering, it "partially accepts" the recommendation but says "no further assessment is planned at this stage", citing the Provider Selection Regime introduced on 1 January 2024.
- On a national sexual health strategy, it "partially accepts" the recommendation and points to a new HIV Action Plan, which it "aim[s] to publish in 2025", including an objective to stabilise and support the wider sexual and reproductive health system.
- It "accepts" the recommendations on antibiotic development, condom promotion, prevention campaigns and the chlamydia screening review, though on the last it says "insufficient time has elapsed" to evaluate any impact of the policy change.