To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which the current method of evaluation of vaccines in the UK fully captures the lifetime benefits of disease prevention such as costs borne by parents unable to work, costs to the education system for special needs education and payouts of medico-legal claims.

The current method of evaluation of vaccines in the United Kingdom follows National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) practice to ensure vaccines are considered on the same basis as other health interventions. NICE methodology is designed to maximise the total health benefit to the population from the resources available to the national health service. It does not consider non-health costs or benefits.