Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 May 2023 to Question 183644 on Air Pollution: Greater London, whether the estimate for the number of deaths attributable to PM2.5 includes deaths attributed to covid-19 in the period between 2018 and 2022.

The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator, measured as PM2.5, represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and over attributed to PM2.5. As the 2020 data for this indicator includes the period from March 2020 onwards, the mortality data used in its calculation will reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, attributable fractions in this period should be interpreted with caution.