Petition · past parliament

Legally require parents/carers to vaccinate their child prior to entering school

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

We the people call on the UK government to require parents/carers to vaccinate their children against the following 12 diseases (listed below) prior to enrolling in school, and that failure to do so is punishable by law.
These include: polio, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae B, meningitis B, meningitis C, measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, and chickenpox.

Many of these preventable diseases are seeing a rise due largely to the efforts of the now discredited former Dr, Andrew Wakefield, and the anti-vaxxer movement. In the last few years the UK has seen small but significant declines in infant vaccinations - from 91.9% in 15/16 to 91.6% in 16/17 - both below the WHO recommendations.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

8 Dec 2017 Petition opened for signatures
12 Dec 2017 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 18
Status Rejected
Rejected 12 Dec 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.