Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

You asked us:

‘Please could you provide the numbers of claims under VDPS by year and, for each year, the number that related to pertussis vaccine and the number for which awards were given both in total and for pertussis specifically. Please could you provide this data from as far back as you can go’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 28 August 2025.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds some of the information you have requested.

Fewer than five

Please be aware that I have decided not to release the full details where the total number of individuals falls below five or has increased by fewer than five since we last answered this request. This is because the information is exempt under section 40(2) of the FOIA (personal information).

This is because it would breach the first data protection principle as:

a) it is not fair to disclose individual’s personal details to the world and is likely to cause damage or distress

b) these details are not of sufficient interest to the public to warrant an intrusion into the privacy of the individual.

Please see the following link to view the section 40 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40

Breach of Confidentiality

Please note that the identification of individuals is also a breach of the common law duty of confidence. An individual who has been identified could make a claim against the NHSBSA for the disclosure of the confidential information.

The information requested is therefore being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 41(1) ‘Information provided in confidence’ of the FOIA.

Please see the following link to view the section 41 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41

Question 1 - Please could you provide the numbers of claims under VDPS by year

The NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, some of the information is exempt under Section 21 of the FOIA as it is already in the public domain. As such we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you.

Please see the following link to view the section 21 in full: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/21

• Claims received between 1979 (scheme inception) and 31 October 2024
A monthly breakdown of claims registered from scheme inception to 31 October 2024 has been previously disclosed under FOI 02394.

You can view FOI 02394 here:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02394

• Claims received between 1 November 2024 and 31 March 2025
There were 3,238 claims received between 1 November 2024 to 31 March 2025. Further information for claims received in the financial years 2025/26 can be found on the Open Data Portal for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 claims.

You can find this information on the Open Data Portal at: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19

• Claims received between 1 April 2025 and 31 July 2025
For claim data between 1 April 2025 and 31 July 2025, the NHSBSA does hold the requested information; however, we consider that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 22 of the FOIA. This provides an exemption from the duty to disclose information where the requested information is intended for future publication.

The Information Commissioner’s Office guidance states that “the public authority must, at the time of the request, hold the information and intend that it or “any other person” will publish it in future. This means that it must have a “settled expectation that the information will be published at some future date”.

The information is intended for future publication in October 2025.

Section 22 is a class-based, qualified exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice against one of the purposes listed, but before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure.

Considerations for disclosure:
• Public accountability.
• The need for public authorities to be transparent in their dealings.

Considerations against disclosure:
• The information is intended for future publication.
• The need to ensure accuracy and quality assurance before publication.

Conclusion:
We consider that the advantage of releasing this information now (rather than upon the planned publication) is outweighed by the potential prejudice to the completeness and consistency of the data provided.

Please see the following link to view the section 22 in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/22

Question 2 – for each year, the number that related to pertussis vaccine and the number for which awards were given both in total

We are unable to provide data for claims that were assessed by the Department for Work and Pensions, the previous administrator, as the vaccine type was not recorded by them. Therefore, the following data relates to claims received by the NHSBSA when we took over administration of the VDPS on 1 November 2021.

Of the claims received by the VDPS, in:

• 2021 there were 5 claims received relating to Pertussis
• 2022 there were 6 claims received relating to Pertussis
• 2023 there were 58 claims received relating to Pertussis
• 2024 there were 58 claims received relating to Pertussis
• 2025 there were 39 claims received relating to Pertussis

Of these, the number of awards is fewer than 5 and therefore is exempt under section 40(2) and section 41 of the FOI as explained above.

Under the government's rules for the VDPS, to qualify for a Vaccine Damage Payment, it must be proved that:

• an eligible vaccine was received
• on the balance of probabilities, the vaccine caused the disability
• the resulting disablement is severe

Severely disabled means at least 60% as defined by the principles for assessing the extent of disablement. These are set out in:

• Section 103 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992
• Schedule 2 of the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982

More information about eligibility, including a list of eligible vaccines, is available from the government's Vaccine Damage Payment webpage.

Please see the following link to view the section 40 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40.

Please see the following link to view the section 41 exemption in full - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2025” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.