Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has commissioned or supported examining the effect of air quality on cancer rates in specific locations.

The Department invests over £1 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including to examine the effects of air quality on cancer rates in specific locations. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

The NIHR funds a broad spectrum of research on the effects of air quality on health through the NIHR Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs). Since 2014, the NIHR has funded the HPRU in Health Impact of Environmental Hazards at a cost of £4.4 million. This Unit is a partnership between King’s College London and Public Health England and conducts a wide-ranging programme of research on the health impacts of air pollutants.