Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 63143 on Defibrillators, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to ensure defibrillator manufacturers are encouraged to signpost buyers to register new devices with the Circuit network.

The Department for Business and Trade is not involved in the management or regulation of defibrillator manufacturers.

The Circuit is the independently operated national automated external defibrillator (AED) database, developed by a partnership of the British Heart Foundation, the National Health Service, the Resuscitation Council UK, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. The Circuit provides a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can quickly identify the nearest defibrillator.

To improve patients' survival rates following out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the Government committed to improving access to AEDs in public spaces and to reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED Fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

Applications to the fund were allocated based on where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.