FIONA'S LAW - Women should be allowed a yearly Cervical screening
The Parliament petitions site records 146,637 signatures for this petition, which closed on 7 March 2021. The Government responded on 10 February 2021. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 19 July 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
FIONA'S LAW - Women should be allowed a yearly Cervical screening
Cervical screening needs to be every year.
This is because women are dying, mothers, wives, daughters, granddaughters and sisters are dying.
We need yearly checks regardless of the statistics.
It should be law that every women in England can access a yearly smear test.
So they have a future.
You are preventing women from watching their children grow.
My friend will never see her children's first day at school, watch her children grow, fall in love, watch them get married or hold her grandchildren.
This could have been prevented.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 10 February 2021; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
All women aged 25-64 are offered routine cervical screening. Due to the highly accurate, predictive nature of the HPV test, the UK NSC does not recommend that women are screened on a yearly basis.
The opening 385 words of the 819-word response:
We are so sorry for your loss of your friend but want to assure you that the Government is committed to the prevention and early detection of cancer, so that the lives of many more women can be saved.
Cervical screening is vital in the early detection of cervical abnormalities that could cause cancer. The NHS cervical screening programme reaches approximately 7 million people and saves an estimated 5,000 lives per year, and is a key part of the Government’s commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan to detect 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2, and for 55,000 more people to survive cancer for five years in England each year from 2028.
The NHS cervical screening programme currently invites women between the ages of 25-49 for a routine screening appointment once every three years, those between 50-64 years old every five years, and those 65 and older only if one of their last three tests detected abnormalities. However, it is important that anyone at any time and of any age who is worried about cervical cancer, or who notices any unusual symptoms, should not wait for a routine screening appointment and should see their GP as soon as possible.
NHS screening programmes and policy are based on the expert advice of the United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC). Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, the UN NSC continually assesses the evidence for programmes and the way in which they are delivered against a set of internationally recognised criteria.
In 2015, the UK NSC recommended changes to the NHS cervical screening programme that have made it more effective and require women to be screened less frequently. Since then cervical screening has been a two stage process.
All screened women are now tested for certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV test can predict whether a woman may develop cervical cancer: this is because HPV can cause cells in the cervix to become abnormal, and potentially become cancerous.
If HPV is detected as part of routine screening, a cytology test to check for any abnormal cells is then used in a second stage of screening. If no abnormal cells are found, a follow up screening appointment is arranged 12 months later to see if the immune system has cleared the virus.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 2,893, came from Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.
145,998 of the signatures were from the UK and 639 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk | 2,893 |
| Moray | 1,401 |
| East Lothian | 1,283 |
| Edinburgh West | 1,211 |
| Midlothian | 1,158 |
| Witney | 985 |
| Livingston | 980 |
| Dunfermline and West Fife | 973 |
| Edinburgh North and Leith | 972 |
| Edinburgh South West | 961 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Scotland | 37,213 |
| South East | 18,504 |
| South West | 14,927 |
| East of England | 12,283 |
| North West | 10,533 |
| West Midlands | 9,705 |
| East Midlands | 8,493 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,544 |
| Wales | 7,117 |
| London | 6,262 |
| North East | 3,451 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,427 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 19 July 2021. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/317336.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
ed7f9fca9d97411c… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.