Guidance

Appendix 3: Additional resources for preparation phase

Published 10 June 2026

Template invitation email for the immunisation equity partnership group

Dear [Name],

I am writing to invite [you or your organisation] to join the [area or ICB or local authority] Immunisation Equity Partnership Group, which is being established to support a coordinated, system‑wide approach to understanding and addressing immunisation inequities across [locality or region].

Purpose of the group

The Immunisation Equity Partnership Group will:

• provide strategic oversight and coordination of local work to reduce immunisation inequities
• agree priorities for situational analysis, planning and intervention design
• ensure meaningful involvement of communities and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners

• support alignment of resources, roles and responsibilities across the system

• review emerging data and insights and guide the refinement of local approaches

Membership

We are seeking representation from organisations involved in the commissioning, delivery or support of immunisation programmes, including but not limited to integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, primary care, UKHSA regional teams, the Child Health Information Service (CHIS), maternity and health visiting services, school-aged immunisation services, VCSE organisations and community representatives.

Commitment required

• attendance at [quarterly or 6‑monthly] meetings
• review of papers and data in advance of meetings

• contribution to collective decisions and work planning

• acting as a link between your organisation or sector and the group

First meeting

Date: [insert date]

Time: [insert time]

Location and format: [virtual or in‑person]

Agenda and papers will be circulated in advance.

Please confirm whether you (or a nominated representative) are able to join the group by [date]. If you have any questions, I would be happy to discuss.

Thank you very much for your support. We look forward to working with you.

Kind regards,

[Email signature]

Template terms of reference for the immunisation equity partnership group

Purpose

The Immunisation Equity Partnership Group provides strategic leadership, coordination and oversight of system‑wide efforts to understand and reduce immunisation inequities across [area or ICB or region].

Its purpose is to ensure:

• a shared, evidence‑based understanding of local immunisation inequities
• collaborative design and delivery of equitable immunisation programme approaches
• meaningful involvement of communities and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners
• alignment of system resources and responsibilities
• continuous monitoring, evaluation and refinement of interventions

Objectives

The group will:

• agree shared priorities, goals and expected outcomes
• establish governance structures, roles and ways of working
• support proportionate and culturally competent community involvement
• oversee the production of a local immunisation equity needs assessment
• review quantitative and qualitative data, identifying gaps and ensuring insights are triangulated with community perspectives
• prioritise areas for action
• co-design culturally appropriate and feasible interventions
• develop an immunisation equity action plan
• support delivery partners to operationalise interventions
• promote consistent and transparent communication
• review monitoring and evaluation findings
• recommend refinements and scale‑up of successful approaches

Membership

Membership should reflect the full immunisation system and may include:

Core members:

• integrated care board (ICB) – immunisation, health inequalities and/or public health
• local authority public health team – Director of Public Health (DPH), public health consultants and/or intelligence leads
• UKHSA regional team – Health Protection and Field Service
• primary care – general practice (GP) representatives, primary care network (PCN) clinical directors
• school aged immunisation service providers [dependent on focus]
• maternity and health visiting services [dependent on focus]
• community pharmacies
• Child Health Information Service (CHIS)
• VCSE organisations
• community and lived experience representatives

Optional and ad hoc members:

• education, housing, social care leads
• occupational health
• academic partners
• outreach and community health teams
• data and/or analytics specialists

Members may nominate deputies where appropriate.

[insert table of members and affiliations here]

Roles and responsibilities

Chair:

• provides leadership and ensures meetings run effectively
• oversees agenda setting and sign‑off of minutes
• represents group decisions at relevant boards

Group members

• contribute expertise, insight and organisational perspectives
• share relevant data, intelligence and feedback
• engage with and represent stakeholder groups
• support development and delivery of agreed actions

Secretariat:

• schedule meetings, prepare agendas and circulate papers
• record decisions, actions and follow‑up
• maintain documentation and act as central coordination point

Ways of working

The Immunisation Equity Partnership Group will operate in line with the following shared ways of working to ensure effective and transparent collaboration:

• confidentiality and safe spaces: members should treat discussions within the group as confidential, particularly where they relate to sensitive data, operational challenges, emerging issues or lived‑experience insight
• information governance: all data shared within the group must comply with relevant information governance, data protection and organisational policies (for example, on data sharing)
• respectful and inclusive engagement: members are expected to engage constructively, listen to different perspectives and value both professional expertise and lived experience equally, with meetings conducted in a way that minimises power imbalances and supports meaningful participation from all partners
• transparency and accountability: decision‑making processes and constraints should be discussed openly, with clarity provided by members about what they can and cannot commit to on behalf of their organisation
• consensus-based decision making: where consensus is not possible, the Chair will summarise positions and propose a way forward
• development, revision and approval of outputs: key outputs (for example, needs assessments, action plans, communications materials or evaluation reports) should follow an agreed process for drafting, review, revision and sign‑off
• use of learning and continuous improvement: the group will promote a learning‑oriented approach, using data, evaluation findings and community feedback to reflect on what is working, refine approaches and scale up effective interventions

Meeting frequency and format

• quarterly meetings as standard (minimum twice per year)
• extraordinary meetings may be convened as needed
• format may be virtual, hybrid or in‑person
• papers circulated at least 5 working days prior to meetings

Reporting and accountability

The group will report to:

• [ICB governance structures]
• [local authority Health and Wellbeing Board] (as appropriate)
• primary care, VCSE and community networks via nominated representatives

Outputs may include:

• progress updates
• equity dashboards
• needs assessments
• recommendations for system action
• evaluation findings and lessons learnt

Community and VCSE involvement

The group will ensure:

• clear roles, expectations and power‑sharing arrangements
• options for reimbursement and/or recognition for lived‑experience contributors
• use of trauma‑informed, culturally competent approaches
• multiple accessible mechanisms for engagement and feedback

Review

These Terms of Reference will be reviewed annually or sooner if significant system changes occur.

Template agenda for immunisation equity partnership group meetings

Meeting agenda

Item	Agenda topic	Detail	Time
1	Welcome and introductions	Introductions and apologies, meeting aims	5 minutes
2	Minutes and actions from the previous meeting	Approve minutes from last meeting, review action log	5 minutes
3	Equity data review	Coverage and/or update by programme, equity dimensions, general practice (GP) variation, data gaps	15 minutes
4	Community and VCSE insight	Lived‑experience feedback, outreach learning, barriers	10 minutes
5	Deep‑dive item	Rotating focus (for example, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), antenatal pertussis, adolescent vaccines). Root cause review and pathway issues	20 minutes
6	Intervention pipeline and delivery update	Current interventions, risks and issues, resource needs, quick wins, equality impact check	15 minutes
7	Communications and engagement	Key messages, channels, campaign alignment, myth‑busting materials	8 minutes
8	Decisions required	Approvals needed (for example, funding shifts, pilot sign‑off)	7 minutes
9	Actions recap	Confirmation of action owners and deadlines	2 minutes
10	Any other business and forward look	Next deep‑dive topic, dependencies, training needs	3 minutes