Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to support research into developing low carbon propellant inhalers for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

The Department funds research for the health and care system through the National Institute for Health and Social Care (NIHR). The NIHR has no immediate plans to encourage researchers to move into that specific area - though our research funding programmes are open and we would welcome applications in any area, including low carbon inhalers. The NIHR has also previously issued a cross-programme call for research into the evaluation of a range of interventions and services to support the delivery of a more sustainable United Kingdom health and care system and is considering how to support further research in this area in future.