Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) direct and (b) indirect impact of current levels of (i) ambient and (ii) indoor air pollution on the (A) current and (B) future health of children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambient and indoor air pollution have long- and short-term health impacts on children and young people, for example respiratory effects including reduced lung function and exacerbation of asthma. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has published advice on the susceptibility to air pollution, including for children.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found that one third of schools in England in 2017 were in areas with fine particulate matter levels exceeding previous World Health Organization guidelines, particularly in income-deprived areas, exacerbating health inequalities.
A recent UKHSA review also found that 315,000 days of school absences in 2019 were attributed to illnesses related to fine particulate matter exposure.
The UKHSA is a key partner in a newly funded project focused on improving indoor air quality and its health implications, including among children in educational settings.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on air pollution impacting people's health in relation to (a) ambient air and (b) indoor air in England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the UK Health Security Agency have published a range of information and evidence on health impacts of air pollution, to support action to reduce exposure to harmful emissions.
The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2022: Air Pollution sets out a detailed overview of this evidence of the impact on health of both indoor and ambient air quality. The report can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the types of health impacts of poor (a) ambient and (b) indoor air quality by (i) geography and (ii) socioeconomic groups.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambient and indoor air pollution are harmful to health in the United Kingdom. Long-term exposure to air pollution, over years or lifetimes, reduces life expectancy, mainly due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, dementia and lung cancer. Short-term exposure, over hours or days, to elevated levels of air pollution can also cause a range of health impacts, including effects on lung function, exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions, and mortality. Some groups may be more affected by air pollution exposure due to their location or socioeconomic background, but the types of health impacts from exposure to poor air quality in indoor and ambient settings remains similar. A combination of high ambient air pollution levels and substandard housing in income-deprived areas, pre-existing health issues, and lifestyle factors contribute to a disproportionate burden of air-pollution-related ill health among more deprived groups.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) bring awareness to and (b) help address the potential adverse impact of poor ambient air quality.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan sets out actions to reduce people’s exposure to harmful emissions, improve public understanding of air pollution, and strengthen how air quality information is communicated. The Department continues to work with partners across the Government and the health system to ensure the public receives clear, evidence-based advice and that air quality becomes part of everyday conversations.
In line with commitments in both the 10-Year Health Plan and the Environmental Improvement Plan, the Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and across Government to reduce the health harms associated with poor ambient air quality.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on delivering national targets for ambient air including by sharing data.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Department of Health and Social Care ministers engage regularly with ministerial colleagues on air quality. The 10-Year Health Plan for England details action the Government will take to reduce the health harms of air pollution. This includes the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ refreshed Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out action to further improve air quality in England including through revised interim targets.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many attributable deaths there were from fine particulate matter, PM2.5, were there in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, and (j) England in each year since 2018 using COMEAP's latest methodology.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of deaths attributable to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is not annually calculated for each region. The current estimate of attributable deaths in the United Kingdom for 2019 was 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 years old and over.
The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution is annually calculated for each region and represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and over, attributed to PM2.5. This indicator is calculated using the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants’ updated concentration-response-function, and figures for the years 2018 to 2023 are available at the following link:
Estimates for 2024 will be available later in 2026.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to allow NHS professionals to view the health records of ex-military patients from their time in military service.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Defence Medical Services (DMS) provide primary healthcare for serving personnel. All serving personnel will have a Defence Health Record which records their healthcare through their military service, whether provided by DMS or the National Health Service.
Serving personnel are provided with a medical care summary and a patient’s full Defence Health Record are transferred on request from their NHS general practitioner (GP). These are then available to be used and viewed as part of the individual’s medical records. These would also form part of digital records available via the NHS App and held by the respective veteran patient.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards a greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people died from smoking in England in each year since 2021.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest estimates for smoking-attributable mortality in England are for the period 2017 to 2019. The Smoking Profile, produced by the Department, reports 191,903 smoking-attributable deaths of people aged 35 years old and over in the period 2017 to 2019 in England, which is just under 64,000 deaths each year. Further information on the Smoking Profile is available at the following link:
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will update the Health and Technical Memorandum 03-01 for the latest technical standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Published guidance on ventilation in healthcare settings includes the Health Technical Memorandum 03-01: Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises. It gives comprehensive advice and guidance on the legal requirements, design implications, maintenance, and operation of specialised ventilation in healthcare premises providing acute care. Further information is avaiable at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-ventilation-for-healthcare-buildings/
NHS England will update Health Technical Memorandums, including HTM 03-01, when necessary.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which public health factors created the 10 largest direct cost impacts on the NHS in 2024; and how much the NHS spent in 2024 on tackling the health impacts of the following public health factors: (a) air pollution, (b) alcoholism, (c) obesity, (d) excessive salt consumption and (e) smoking.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Global Burden of Disease data considers the top ten public health factors in the United Kingdom in 2023 in order of importance to be: tobacco, high body mass index, dietary risks, high fasting plasma glucose, high blood pressure, high alcohol use, high cholesterol, occupational risks, kidney dysfunction, and drug use. Further information on the Global Burden of Disease data is available at the following link:
https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
The following table shows the various estimates of the cost to the National Health Service of the five factors specified:
Risk factor | Estimated NHS cost | Source of Estimate |
Air Pollution | £1.6 billion for fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide combined between 2017 and 2025. | Public Health England Agency, 2018 |
Alcohol | £4.9 billion annually | Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2021/22 |
Obesity | £9.3 billion annually | Frontier Economics & NESTA, 2025 |
Hypertension (excessive salt consumption is linked to an increased risk of hypertension) | £2.1 billion annually | Optimity Matrix (commissioned by Public Health England), 2014 |
Smoking | £1.8 billion annually | Action on Smoking and Health, 2025 |
Comparisons of costs should not be made between these estimates because of the different methodologies used in their construction.