Tuberculosis National Action Plan 2026 to 2031
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-09)

Add your evidence and priorities for the Tuberculosis National Action Plan 2026 to 2031.

Introduction

Since 2021, the TB landscape in England has changed and TB incidence is increasing in England. This is in common with many other countries who have seen a reverse in decline in TB incidence following the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

The number of people and rate of TB (per 100,000 people) now stands above the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic and the annual increase in 2023 is the largest in the current reporting period (1971 to 2023). However, provisional rates for 2024 (9.5 per 100,000 or 5,480 people) are still below the peak this century, in 2011 (15.6 per 100,000).

The aim of the next tuberculosis (TB) action plan for 2026 to 2031 is to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB in England. The national action plan will focus on the needs of those affected by TB, and TB services, while recognising the need to prioritise the interventions that are most effective in addressing the increase in people living in England with TB.

Background to this call for evidence

The government is developing the next 5-year TB national action plan. This action plan aims to improve the detection, prevention and control of TB.

This national action plan will follow on from the current Tuberculosis action plan for England (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england/tuberculosis-tb-action-plan-for-england-2021-to-2026), published in 2021. An addendum to the national action plan will be published to reflect progress made during the national action plan’s lifecycle.

This call for evidence has been launched to inform the development of the next 5-year national action plan, which will run from 2026 until 2031. Rather than a formal consultation on specific proposals, it’s a request for ideas and evidence on which we can build.

We encourage input from technical experts and those with lived experiences (including on TB prevention and care, public health, epidemiology, health systems, surveillance, and civil society) on this call for evidence.

In addition to this call for evidence, we are consulting with a wide range of stakeholders across and beyond government to inform the national action plan’s development.

How to respond

You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation by completing the online survey.

Alternatively, you can respond by email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Submissions of evidence from all interested parties are invited as part of the government’s process to inform the development of the next TB national action plan. You should note that any positions expressed do not necessarily represent current or future England policy.

The deadline for responses to this call for evidence is 2 May 2025.

Evidence

The Call for Evidence asks for respondents to provide evidence for their responses. Both qualitative and quantitative pieces are suitable. Examples of evidence we wish to collect include:
- service evaluations
- qualitative assessments of models of care and barriers to care access
- economic modelling and analyses, including micro-costing studies
- lived experiences
- studies highlighting gaps in services, prevalence data etc.
Examples of effective action and markers of success at a local, national and international level are encouraged.

Next Steps

The evidence gathered through this exercise will inform the TB National Action Plan for 2026 to 2031. This is the first stage in a broad process; the findings from this call for evidence will inform further in-depth engagement with stakeholders.

Findings from the call for evidence will be collated into a Summary of Evidence report, to be published on GOV.UK.

Data protection

From 3 April to 1 May 2025, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will seek the views of individuals and organisations through a call for evidence, to inform the next 5-year national action plan for TB, in England. This notice sets out how data collected through this call for evidence will be used and protected.

Data controller

UKHSA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care. DHSC is the data controller for the personal data we collect and use to fulfil our remit. You can find out more about the personal data processed by UKHSA in our general privacy notice.

What personal data we collect

You can respond to the call for evidence through our public survey, which can be completed online, or on paper and submitted by email.

We will collect data on:

whether you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation

your area of work

If volunteered by you, we will also collect data on:

your email address (if completing a paper survey and submitting it by email, or if responding on behalf of an organisation and confirming that UKHSA can contact you about your response)

any other personal data you volunteer by way of evidence or example in your response to open-ended questions in the survey

How we use your data (purposes)

Your data will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

We collect your personal data as part of the call for evidence process:

for statistical purposes

so that UKHSA can contact you for further information about your response (if you are responding on behalf of an organisation and have given your consent)

Legal basis for processing personal data

The legal basis for processing your personal data is to perform a task carried out in the public interest, that of consulting the public.

Data processors and other recipients of personal data

All responses to the call for evidence will be seen by professional analysts and policy leads working on the development of the new national action plan in UKHSA

UKHSA may also share your responses with:

individuals supporting this project within DHSC, DHSC’s executive agencies and/or executive non-departmental public bodies, such as NHS England

other government departments

external researchers if additional support is required to analyse the responses received

International data transfers and storage locations

Storage of data by UKHSA is mainly in the UK and only in other countries, where necessary, if they are formally recognised by the UK government as providing legal protections over privacy at least equivalent to the those that apply here in the UK, such as the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Retention and disposal policy

UKHSA will only retain your personal data for as long as it is needed for the purposes of the call for evidence.

This means that personal data will be held by UKHSA for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 8 years.

Data retention will be reviewed on an annual basis. Anonymised data will be kept indefinitely.

How we keep your data secure

UKHSA has put in place a range of organisational processes and technical security measures to protect any information we hold from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

Your rights as a data subject

Under data protection law, you have several rights over your personal information. You have the right to:

see what data we hold about you (this is known as a ‘right of access request’)

ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record

have some or all of your data deleted

have some of your data corrected

lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law

Comments or complaints

If you have any concerns about how we use and protect your personal information, you can contact the Department of Health and Social Care’s Data Protection Officer at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) or by writing to:

Office of the Data Protection OfficerDepartment of Health and Social Care1st Floor North39 Victoria Street LondonSW1H 0EU

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office if you have any concerns about how we use and protect your personal information. You can do so by calling the ICO’s helpline on xx-xxxx-xxxx, visiting the ICO’s website at www.ico.org.uk or writing to the ICO at:

Customer ContactInformation Commissioner’s OfficeWycliffe HouseWater LaneWilmslowSK9 5AF