Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the ONS document entitled Healthy life expectancy, UK: between 2011 to 2013 and 2022 to 2024, published on 19 February 2026, whether his Department has assessed the reasons for declining healthy life expectancy for men and women in Sandwell over the last decade.

Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) at birth for females and males in Sandwell was fairly stable from the beginning of our current consistent data series, 2011 to 2013, up until 2018 to 2020, at which point it peaked temporarily. Since then, the steady decline in HLE in Sandwell is reflective of the decline observed nationally.

The Government recognises that the latest figures are concerning, because they reflect people spending more of their lives in poor health. These statistics are about people’s lives and the reality of persistent health inequalities across the country. That is why the Government remains committed to halving the gap in HLE between the richest and poorest regions.

HLE is a long-term measure shaped by decades of social and economic factors. Short term movements in the data do not change the Government’s commitment to ensuring everyone lives well for longer, regardless of where they are from.

A core mission of the 10-Year Health Plan is to reduce the persistent inequalities that shape people’s health. The plan’s three shifts all serve one purpose, to improve outcomes for the communities who face the greatest disadvantage.