Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Fifth Report - The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in young people and other high risk groups
Women and Equalities Committee
HC 463
Published 26 March 2024
Recommendations
3
Accepted
Para 30
Increase public health grant to local authorities for effective sexual health services and STI testing.
Recommendation
The Government must radically increase the public health grant to local authorities to a level that allows sexual health services to operate effectively and meet local need. This must include the provision of face-to-face consultations to those who need them, …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation, committing to aim for multi-year Public Health Grant allocations from 2026/27, detailing a £198 million increase to the grant for 2025/26, and developing a new HIV Action Plan aiming for publication in 2025.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
4
Accepted in Part
Para 31
Accredit and monitor online STI test providers, and outline child safeguarding for online risks.
Recommendation
Online providers of STI tests and treatment should be accredited by the relevant regulatory body, and regularly monitored on their performance against national clinical guidelines. In response to this Report, the Government should set out the steps it will take …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, noting existing regulation for online STI tests and treatments, though some providers may be outside CQC scope. For child safeguarding, NICE guidance on Child Maltreatment will be linked in new CQC safeguarding guidance, but specific steps to ensure children receive support are not outlined.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
5
Deferred
Para 35
Assess repeated tendering's effect on sexual health services and consider longer-term public health grants.
Recommendation
Competition for contracts can lead to improved service provision, however repeated tendering and short-term contracts can also be destabilising and lead to the loss of experienced workers. The Government should make an assessment of the effect of repeated tendering of …
Read more
Government Response Summary
Despite accepting the recommendation, the government's response entirely focuses on its commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), detailing funding for AMR research and a 20-year vision, rather than assessing the impact of tendering on sexual health services.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
6
Accepted
Improve collaboration across sexual healthcare for young people, supported by a national strategy.
Recommendation
The provision of sexual health services is fragmented across the health system and can be complex to navigate. The Government should work with providers and commissioners to improve collaboration across reproductive and sexual healthcare to ensure effective cross-system support for …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation and is undertaking work on condom usage as part of the new HIV Action Plan. They have extended the 'Get Ready for a Hot Summer' campaign until March 2026 with £1.5 million funding to raise awareness and distribute 20,000 condom packs.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
7
Deferred
Set out steps and funding for developing new antibiotics for gonorrhoea and other STIs.
Recommendation
It is worrying that we are seeing antibiotic resistance to some STIs—particularly gonorrhoea, where the rate of diagnoses has reached record levels, and for which young people and other communities at greatest risk are most likely to experience drug resistance. …
Read more
Government Response Summary
Despite accepting the recommendation, the government's response focuses on local authorities' commissioning decisions, national prevention campaigns, and funding for the HPE campaign, rather than detailing any steps or funding for the development of new antibiotics for STIs.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
8
Accepted
Para 43
Review and support national rollout of innovative schemes promoting condom use for high-risk groups.
Recommendation
Condomless sex is a key risk factor for STI acquisition, and changes in condom use have been widely reported. The Government must increase its promotion of the benefits of condom use, using a tailored approach to those groups at greatest …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, highlighting ongoing work for a new HIV Action Plan and the continued 'Get Ready for a Hot Summer' campaign, extended to March 2026 with £1.5m funding. This campaign includes distributing 20,000 tailored condom packs to high-risk populations.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
9
Accepted
Para 46
Fund co-designed public awareness campaigns for STI prevention targeting high-risk groups in online spaces.
Recommendation
The Government should make funding available for public awareness campaigns focused on STI prevention among young people and other groups at high risk of infection in areas with the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and where rates of diagnosis …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, highlighting local authority responsibility but also its own support through national campaigns. It notes a £1.5m extension for the HPE campaign until 2025/26, targeting high-risk groups, and is developing a new HIV Action Plan for 2025 which will explore awareness interventions.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
12
Deferred
Para 56
Improve sex education teaching and materials, including condom use, to address rising STIs.
Recommendation
The Government should work with the NHS and Oak National Academy to improve the teaching of sex education, and the materials available to support it, to ensure it provides an effective response to the troubling increases in the prevalence of …
Read more
Government Response Summary
Despite accepting the recommendation, the government's response focuses entirely on the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP), its policy changes, and monitoring its effectiveness, rather than addressing improvements to RSE teaching, curriculum content, or extending RSE provision.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
13
Accepted in Part
Para 57
Set out plans to reverse substantial reductions in the number of school nurses.
Recommendation
School nurses are a valuable resource. They are a trusted adult who children can turn to, they can pick up on safeguarding concerns, and trends in problems such as STI prevalence in a community. They can also direct children to …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, recognising the fundamental role of school nurses and stating that workforce planning will be a central part of the 10 Year Health Plan to ensure the right staff are available, including school nurses. However, no specific plans for reversing the recent reductions are provided.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
14
Accepted in Part
Para 62
Increase HPV vaccine uptake, targeting missed children and enabling sexual health services.
Recommendation
The HPV vaccine is a remarkable step forwards in preventing HPV infection and the serious consequences that can result from it. It is a tragedy that not all children are receiving this vaccine. The Government must step up its efforts …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation. It commits to strengthening efforts to improve HPV vaccine uptake, including targeted outreach, digital enhancements, and local commissioning to meet WHO recommended levels. However, it only accepts that sexual health services should be able to deliver the vaccine to unvaccinated, eligible individuals who attend for other services, rather than all who would benefit.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
15
Accepted
Para 65
Review effectiveness of restricting opportunistic chlamydia screening for young women in the national programme.
Recommendation
In light of the increases in chlamydia diagnoses, the Government should review whether the shift in focus of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme to restricting the offer of opportunistic screening to young women has been effective.
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation, stating that UKHSA is monitoring the reproductive harms of untreated chlamydia to assess the effectiveness of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme, although insufficient time has passed for a full evaluation of the recent policy change.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
16
Accepted in Part
Develop a coherent, cross-sector sexual health strategy to reverse rising STI trends in young people.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, committing to developing a new HIV Action Plan by 2025, which will include objectives to stabilise and support sexual and reproductive health (SRH) system enablers, and improve collaboration and integration in the wider SRH system.
Government Equalities Office
View Details →
Conclusions (4)
1
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 28
UK Health Security Agency data on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 2022 are deeply concerning. For particular STIs they show a return to, and acceleration of, pre-Covid-19 trends of rising rates of new infections. Rates of gonorrhoea, which almost doubled among people aged 15 to 24 years, were the highest …
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation, highlighting a £198 million increase to the Public Health Grant in 2025/26, the 2023 publication of the Integrated Sexual Health Service Specification, and the 2024 publication of the STI Prioritisation Framework to support local authorities.
2
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 29
The public health grant to local authorities for the commissioning of sexual health services (SHSs) has been reduced substantially during a period of increasing demand. This is not sustainable and an obvious false economy. It has left many SHSs unable to maintain sufficient staff to provide an adequate level of …
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation but redirects its response to discuss the regulation of online STI self-test kits and treatments, and the inclusion of child maltreatment guidance in CQC's internal safeguarding policy, rather than addressing the impact of public health grant reductions.
10
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Para 54
There is compelling evidence that Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in schools is inadequate, including in relation to contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), with nearly half of children saying education in this area is so poor they rely on finding information for themselves online. This exposes children to an …
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the conclusion, noting existing teacher training modules and Oak National Academy resources, and confirming DfE is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance with a response due in 2025. They are also developing effective practice tools for 16-18 year olds in Further Education settings.
11
Conclusion
Deferred
Para 55
The Government, Oak National Academy—the public body established in 2020 to provide teachers with online lesson plans and other resources—headteachers and Ofsted must place greater priority on RSE and ensuring it delivers the information and guidance that children need. The Government also needs to do more to make the positive …
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation with an unclear qualification, but its response then focuses entirely on the HPV vaccination programme, its coverage targets, and delivery enhancements, ignoring the recommendation to prioritize and improve RSE in schools.