Westminster Hall

Thursday 8th June 2023 Westminster Hall

Thursday 8 June 2023

[Mr Philip Hollobone in the Chair]

Backbench Business

Thursday 8th June 2023 Westminster Hall

Obesity and Fatty Liver Disease

Thursday 8th June 2023 Westminster Hall

13:30

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of preventing obesity and fatty liver disease.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone.

I am truly grateful to the 19 right hon. and hon. Members from across the House and from all parties who supported the application for this debate. I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on liver disease and liver cancer, and I thank all my colleagues in the group for their steadfast support. I am also grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this debate.

The debate’s aim is simple and straightforward: to sound an alarm. This country faces a crisis—a fatty liver disease crisis. One in five people in the United Kingdom suffer from fatty liver disease. That is a quite incredible figure, and it is driven by obesity. Two thirds of the adult population of the United Kingdom are overweight or obese. It is worth noting that liver disease is often associated with alcohol misuse, but liver disease is increasingly being driven by obesity. I am also pleased that today is the global awareness-raising day for non-alcohol related steatohepatitis, or NASH. Some 150 million people across the world suffer from NASH, which is the most severe form of fatty liver disease.

As I said, two thirds of people in Britain are obese or overweight; that is the third highest obesity rate in the whole of Europe. The rise in obesity is having a hugely detrimental impact on the nation’s health. Fatty liver disease is a problem in itself, but it is also closely related to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and a multiplicity of cancers. It is also worth noting that liver disease has a huge impact on economic development, and that obesity is directly related to that. Obesity costs the UK economy £58 million a year and is a huge drain on the national health service, which is already under huge pressure.

If obesity is a huge problem, how do we tackle it? There are a number of ways. First, we can promote healthy living, and more active lifestyles in particular. To cite my own example, at one time, I prided myself on not having set foot in a gym, but now we have a tread- mill at home and I use it regularly. That is becoming more regular all the time.

Secondly, there is the issue of junk food. Fat, sugar and salt are present in all junk foods. The UK is the largest consumer of ultra-processed food in Europe. I was startled to see a television report earlier this week focusing on the prevalence of emulsifiers in food. I was not aware of what an emulsifier was; for a moment, I thought it was a kind of paint. Emulsifiers are basically used to keep food together, and they are totally unnecessary from a nutritional point of view. Nevertheless, there are serious studies and concerns about the potential harm that the use of excessive emulsifiers in so many of our foods can have on our health. The food industry needs to address that in a significant way. However, it is no good simply to leave everything to those in the food industry. They exist to make profit and that will inevitably have an impact on their profitability. There is therefore a need for a level playing field, and Government regulation is vital. That must be a significant agenda for the immediate future.

The Government really have to deliver on existing policy commitments. We are still patiently waiting for them to implement the 9 pm watershed plans to protect children from junk food advertising on television and online. There also needs to be a ban on advertising multi- buy junk food deals according to that cut-off point. I was encouraged this morning by a visit to Parliament of children from Nant Y Parc Primary School in Senghennydd, near Caerphilly, in my constituency. The children were aware that this is a serious issue. Everyone, especially children, loves junk food, but a discipline needs to be imposed. There is nothing wrong with an occasional burger or KFC, but it must be now and again and not a regular part of their diet. It is important that, time and again, that is stressed to young people at all levels of education.

When we look at liver disease outcomes in care, the huge variation across the country is striking. Inequalities are hugely geographically focused. If we look at non-alcoholic fatty liver disease deaths in England, we see that the north-west of England has a far higher mortality rate than the west midlands. In general, liver disease mortality rates are four times higher in the most deprived areas.

We hear a lot about levelling up these days, but not so much about the need to level up healthcare and life expectancy. That is why I am calling on the Government to lay out a clear set of policies to level up liver disease treatment and make real their declared ambition to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy. That is why I say that a prompt, thorough and comprehensive review of adult services in England is vital if we are to successfully tackle huge inequalities and geographical variations in liver disease treatment, outcomes and care.

Let us be honest: liver disease is a silent killer. It is often diagnosed very late, by which time the damage is irreversible and treatment is not really an option. Sadly, three quarters of people currently diagnosed in hospital following emergency admission cannot be given effective treatment or intervention because it is too late for them.

Since the launch of the British Liver Trust’s campaign last year on early diagnosis, we have seen improvements in pathways for early diagnosis across the four nations. I pay tribute to Pam Healy, the chief executive of the British Liver Trust, and her extremely active team for their work in raising the issue across the country and, in particular, in Parliament. I was extremely pleased that more than 90 Members of Parliament from the Commons and the Lords attended a liver health test we organised in January. I have to say, some MPs were judged to need intervention.

I am also pleased that the Government have made some progress on this issue, and that only yesterday the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence announced its decision to recommend the use of fibroscans as an option to assess liver damage in primary care. I welcome that positive step forward. I urge the Minister to put real emphasis on early diagnosis by adopting a new pathology pathway and ensuring that every community diagnostic centre has a facility to make an assessment of fibrosis—no ifs or buts, it should be available in every community diagnostic centre.

I urge the Minister to recognise that this is not an England-only issue; it affects the whole United Kingdom, and we need to look carefully at good practice in the devolved nations. I am a Welsh Member of Parliament who represents a constituency in the south, and I am very pleased that my own health board, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, pioneered a pilot project that laid the foundations for the Welsh Government to introduce the all-Wales abnormal liver blood test pathway, and they have recently published a quality statement on tackling liver disease. This was the first part of the United Kingdom to do so, and I hope that the other nations in the UK will follow that good example quickly. That work and other good practice is worth examining carefully and emulating throughout the whole United Kingdom.

Fatty liver disease is a clear barometer of the nation’s health. The obesity crisis in our country is clearly exacerbating health inequalities and causing real harm to people. It is resulting in a significant cost to the NHS and having a hugely detrimental economic impact. I therefore urge the Government to take immediate action to tackle this issue coherently and systematically. I very much look forward to the Minister’s positive reply.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

Order. The debate can last until 3 o’clock, and I am obliged to call the Front Benchers no later than 2.28 pm. The guideline limits are 10 minutes for the SNP, 10 minutes for His Majesty’s Opposition, 10 minutes for the Minister and two minutes at the end for Mr David to sum up the debate. There are three highly distinguished Back-Bench Members seeking to speak in this debate. I hope you will allow each other enough time to get your contributions in. The first exemplar of that will be Maggie Throup.

13:42

[Maggie Throup (Erewash) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone, and to participate in this extremely important debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) on securing the debate, which is timely because it coincides with International NASH Day. International NASH Day aims to raise awareness of fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which affects more than 115 million people globally. Up to one in five people in the UK have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and almost 12% of the population have NASH. I am sure it comes as no great surprise to anyone, as the clue is in the name, that one of the key causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is obesity.

The need to tackle obesity as a priority was first identified by the Government in the early 1990s in the “Health of the Nation” White Paper. In the three decades since then, there have been policies such as the soft drinks industry levy, the pilot of the “Better Health: Rewards” scheme in Wolverhampton, restrictions on product placement and calories on menus, which have been introduced effectively with the aim of reducing obesity. I am particularly proud that many of those measures were introduced or reinforced during my time as public health Minister. However, despite those policies being implemented successfully, the obesity rate continues to increase, so more needs to be done.

A recent report by the Obesity Health Alliance argued that obesity is the new smoking. That comparison was reinforced yesterday by the announcement of £40 million to pilot ways to make the newest and most effective obesity drugs accessible to eligible patients. That is an acceptance that obesity is a disease and should be treated with drugs, in the same way that lung disease is treated with drugs. Following that argument through, immense effort has gone into stopping smoking measures and reducing exposure to cigarettes, so immense effort should now be put into reducing everyone’s exposure to foods that are more likely to cause obesity—that is, ultra-processed foods. The delayed 9 pm watershed and action on two-for-one offers will do just that.

Research by the Obesity Health Alliance shows that 72% of people believe a 9 pm watershed on junk food adverts should be brought in during popular family TV shows. The measure has public support, so why hold back? When will the Minister’s Department introduce those important measures? Provisions are on the statute book, so let us just get on with it.

Statistics provided by the House of Commons Library highlight how obesity is steadily getting out of control in England. Since 1993, the proportion of adults in England who are overweight or obese has risen from 52.9% to 64.3%, and the proportion who are obese has risen from 14.9% to 28%. It is no surprise that the UK has the third highest obesity rate in Europe. Furthermore, the alarming rate of child obesity is of real concern. Data from the national child measurement programme outlines that in England, 10.1% of reception-aged children —aged four to five—were obese in 2021-22 and a further 12.1% were overweight. At ages 10 to 11—in year 6—23.4% were obese and 14.1% were overweight. Obesity prevalence is highest among the most deprived groups in society: children in deprived parts of the country are twice as likely to be obese than their peers in more affluent areas.

The health and economic impacts of obesity are devastating. Obesity is a force multiplier on fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and that, of course, puts ever-increasing pressure on the NHS. The combined cost of obesity to the Treasury—that is, to the NHS, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the economy as a whole—is projected to be £58 billion a year. I feel, however, that that could be a conservative projection, as there are many factors that have not been taken into consideration.

Those who are obese cost the NHS twice as much as those who are not. It has been estimated that those who are obese take four extra sick days a year, which equates to 37 million sick days across the UK working population. Those stats are clearly very concerning, and there needs to be a collective effort to tackle this widespread problem. If action is not taken now, we will embed ill health and low productivity into generations to come.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is triggered by a build-up of fat in the liver, and as its name suggests, it is usually caused by obesity. Early-stage non-alcoholic fatty liver disease does not usually cause any harm. However, if left untreated, it can lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis. Some 90% of liver diseases are preventable, and in the UK, the most common causes of cirrhosis are excessive alcohol consumption, hepatitis and NAFLD.

What can we do to avert this public health crisis? As individuals, we can all take measures to help us to avert the risk of NAFLD—simple measures including eating a balanced and healthy diet, and in particular, not eating ultra-processed foods. Additionally, we can all increase our activity levels, as the hon. Member for Caerphilly indicated. It has been estimated that if those who are overweight or obese lost just 2.5 kg—5½ lb for people of my generation—that could save the NHS £105 million over the next 15 years. I am sure that most people would want to lose more than just 5½ lb, and doing so would save the NHS even more money—5½ lb, or 2.5 kg for the younger ones in the room, is not a lot.

We need to do more to promote early diagnosis and raise awareness of the different causes of liver disease. It would be remiss of me, as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for diagnostics, not to mention the possible impact of community diagnostic centres. Community diagnostic centres provide a quick and easy way to access checks, tests and scans, providing routes to early diagnosis. The recent announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care that fibroscan services will be made available in 100 community diagnostic centres is welcome. It could result in thousands of people being made aware of the poor condition of their liver, which could still be reversible.

Despite that positive news, I would like to see an expansion of liver testing in areas where obesity levels are higher and the risk of fatty liver disease is more extreme. Lives are saved when diseases are caught early. I am interested to hear the Minister’s comments regarding the expansion of fibroscan services to all CDCs. My own local integrated care system in Derbyshire is currently categorised as green, indicating that an effective pathway is in place for the early detection and management of liver disease. Will the Minister therefore look at emerging good practice throughout the country and emerging good practice pathways at the ICS level, with a view to establishing a national pathology pathway to accelerate early diagnosis? Government policy towards obesity over the last 30 years has mainly been focused on individual responsibility, rather than mandatory policy, but we can all see that that is not working.

Monday night’s BBC “Panorama” highlighted just how harmful ultra-processed foods are, and how they contribute massively to diet-related ill health. However, they are among the most profitable foods that companies can make. I know that this may sound unlikely, but there is a willingness among food manufacturers to reformulate; however, as the hon. Member for Caerphilly said, they want a level playing field. Sadly, no company is willing to step out of line and lead the way, yet if the consumption of ultra-processed foods continues at the current rate and the obesity rate continues to rise, our nation will be economically poorer and very unhealthy. To be bold, I believe this country is addicted to ultra-processed foods, similar to the way it was addicted to smoking in past decades. We tackled smoking addiction by intervention; it is now time to tackle ultra-processed food addiction by intervention too.

To conclude my remarks, this debate has undoubtedly helped to raise awareness of the problem of obesity and the detrimental impact it has on people’s health, including liver disease, as well as the economy and the NHS. Clearly, more needs to be done to tackle the health inequalities of obesity and improve early diagnosis of fatty liver disease. The Government need to be bold and brave for the sake of the individual, the NHS and the economy.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (in the Chair)]

I call Jim Shannon.

13:52

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Thank you for calling me, Mr Hollobone; it is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. It happens very often that you and I are here in Westminster Hall, but perhaps for different reasons and to participate in different ways.

I thank the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) for leading the debate. It is always a pleasure to hear his calm voice, and today he put the case forward admirably. It is also a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup), who brings a vast stock of knowledge from her former role and her deep interest in these subjects. Whenever she speaks in Westminster Hall or the main Chamber, it is always with facts, evidence and a determination to get the answers.

As the vice-chair of the APPG on liver disease and liver cancer, I am pleased to be here to draw attention to the liver disease crisis, but I am not pleased that there is a crisis of liver cancer in Northern Ireland. One of the great things about the Minister—I do not say this to give him a big head or anything—is that whenever we ask him questions, his first intention is clearly to respond in a positive fashion. That being the case, I have a couple of asks for him.

I am also pleased to work alongside the two shadow Ministers, the hon. Members for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day) and for Bristol South (Karin Smyth). I was saying beforehand to the Labour shadow Minister that very often—most Thursdays—she, the Minister and I, and sometimes others, have this shift in Westminster Hall. We are always pleased to come and to participate. As we look forward, I hope that we can work together and emerge with a good practice for obesity prevention and the early diagnosis of fatty liver disease, which I hope can be replicated across the whole of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

I was delighted to sponsor the British Liver Trust’s “Check your liver health” event in Portcullis House in January. The hon. Member for Caerphilly referred to that event. The turnout was great; he was absolutely right. I thank all MPs who took the time to attend. I personally got the all-clear. That does not mean that someone can sit back and say that everything is all right; they have to continue to do the right things, so that they do not fall back.

I would like to give some background on the situation in Northern Ireland. I always like to give a Northern Ireland perspective, because I believe that that enriches the debate, even though it probably replicates what everybody else is saying as well. When the SNP shadow Minister speaks, he will give Scotland’s perspective, and I very much look forward to hearing that also. In Northern Ireland, nine out of 10 liver disease cases are preventable. That is the point that we start from and it is what the hon. Member for Caerphilly said in his introduction: we can prevent liver disease if we eat right—if we have the correct diet—and we exercise, so it is really important that we do that. There is also the question of alcohol. I am not against anybody drinking alcohol, but if people do that, they should do it in moderation.

Liver disease deaths have doubled in the last two decades, which contrasts with the trends in other chronic diseases, which have decreased or stabilised. While liver disease and liver cancer have increased, other diseases have fallen. We cannot ignore that. There is an onus on Government. Government cannot do everything for everybody, but they can raise awareness and perhaps give some of the direction that is needed. It is important to recognise the trend.

Liver disease deaths in Northern Ireland increased by 39% during the period encompassing the pandemic—between 2018 and 2021. That was primarily driven by obesity and alcohol misuse. The pandemic was part of the reason for that, but there is also an onus on all of us individually, including me. We need to exercise and do the right things. Northern Ireland does have a non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease and haemochromatosis pathway in development, so there is a policy by the HPSS—health and personal social services—in Northern Ireland, but progress is slow.

I am, as always, keen to ensure that the Minister here uses his good offices to encourage the devolved Administrations to be active, and I am sure that that will be the case. The Minister himself is proactive. I know that he has had regular contact in all his ministerial roles—in Education and now in Health—and I hope that discussions with those in Northern Ireland continue. Has he had an opportunity to have discussions with the Department of Health back home in Northern Ireland? If not, may I request that he do that?

I have spoken before on the importance both of raising awareness of the risks of obesity and of early diagnosis. People with excess weight and fatty liver disease are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a wide range of cancers. People who are obese are two times more likely to develop liver cancer, three times more likely to develop colon cancer, two and a half times more likely to develop high blood pressure and five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. I declare an interest as a type 2 diabetic. I will give an idea of what that involves. When I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic some 15 years ago, I weighed 17.5 stone. I was a big fat puddin’—I am talking about myself, so I can use this terminology. I lost some four stone and have kept that weight off. But people have to work at it; that is what the hon. Member for Caerphilly was saying. Diet control helped for a while, but my diabetes—this debate is not about diabetes—is now medication-controlled. It is important that people are aware of that issue. That included me, who came through that particular episode some years ago.

British Liver Trust research reveals huge geographic variation in access to patient care pathways for the early diagnosis and management of liver disease in primary care. Furthermore, removing stigma surrounding the impacts of liver disease is crucial. That is why it is important that we all recognise that we have to encourage people. It is so alarming that 49% of liver patients surveyed by the British Liver Trust in October 2022 reported experiences of stigma from healthcare professionals. When someone comes to our office, our job as MPs is not ever to be judgmental; it is to help the person with whatever the issue may be. I think that there is a case for healthcare professionals to have the same attitude when people come to them. This should be not about judgmental attitudes, but about saying, “What can we do to help?” People should look at it that way.

I congratulate the Royal Victoria Hospital liver support group in Northern Ireland on its recent 25th anniversary. Its chairman, Jim Kilpatrick, is a constituent in a neighbouring constituency, and he is a passionate campaigner who has been instrumental in improving support for patients in my constituency of Strangford—indeed, in all areas. I commend him for that and for the support of carers across Northern Ireland. There was a debate in the Chamber earlier about carers. I think we all have experience of that—I know my family have. Jim Kilpatrick presents an understanding and supportive stance on behalf of the support group, persuading, assisting and making life better, as well as focusing attention on and driving the strategy. The Royal Victoria Hospital liver support group is a network of volunteer liver patients and their carers who provide confidential, compassionate, emotional and psychological support for all adults, teenagers and children coping with a liver condition. Their vital work is a lifeline to my constituents and patients across Northern Ireland.

Liver disease is a silent killer, largely asymptomatic in its early stages. Three quarters of patients are diagnosed with cirrhosis in hospital, when it is too late for effective treatment. The hon. Member for Caerphilly emphasised the need for early diagnosis, and he is right. Risks can be drastically reduced through early detection and through diet, exercise and drinking in moderation. Let us be honest—there should be moderation in everything. It is so important that we raise awareness.

I give sincere thanks to the British Liver Trust, which has been in constant contact with my office and has been so insightful in the information it has provided. I want to put on the record how grateful I am to the trust for providing me and my staff with the information to prepare for this debate. I look forward to working with it in future as we collaborate to address this important issue and improve the health of constituents. I am convinced that the trust would be keen to work alongside the Minister and his Department. Has he had an opportunity to discuss these matters, to work in partnership and to help each other.?

I am also keen to receive an assurance that any co-ordinated plan or strategy here on the mainland can be delivered by the regional Administrations, including the Northern Ireland Assembly. I am confident and convinced that the assurances I seek will be given. I say this not as a political comment, but when it comes to many things, particularly health, one of the great things is that we can work collaboratively and better as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is always better to share our details, our practices and our experiences. By doing so, we can move forward together and make sure that across this great nation we can all improve our health.

14:03

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Hollobone, for giving me the opportunity to speak for the second time in two days.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David), the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on liver disease and liver cancer, on securing this debate. As vice-chair of the APPG, I am concerned that the UK Government lack a coherent strategy for tackling the worsening liver disease public health crisis, which disproportionately affects our most disadvantaged and marginalised communities. Ealing’s mortality rate for men under 75 is among the worst in the country.

Despite being a leading cause of premature death in the UK, liver disease has not been appropriately prioritised by the Government and was overlooked in the major conditions strategy. Fatty liver disease is a public health emergency. Liver disease mortality rates are outpacing those for other major conditions, such as diabetes or respiratory conditions, which have stabilised or improved over the past 40 years. I am not complaining that those conditions have improved, but it is a fact that liver disease has not been taken seriously. Liver disease deaths are four times higher in the most deprived areas, where risk factors such as obesity, alcohol misuse and viral hepatitis are more prevalent. Poverty and deprivation are key drivers of both obesity and fatty liver disease in the UK.

Ethnic minorities have higher obesity rates than the national average, and south Asian populations are particularly vulnerable to developing fatty liver diseases due to a combination of genetic and societal risk factors, but limited action is being taken to accelerate earlier diagnoses of liver disease within primary care and community settings to reach the communities most at risk. Will the Minister commit to an urgently needed review of adult liver services to tackle the huge inequalities in liver disease outcomes and care across the country? Early detection and diagnosis is key, as all previous contributors have indicated clearly and eloquently. Four in five people with NASH, the most severe form of fatty liver disease, are undiagnosed. The prognosis of NASH is often poor with patients at high risk of liver failure and liver cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of just 13%.

My local integrated care system—North West London ICS—is currently categorised as green, which indicates there is now a fully effective pathway in place for the early detection and management of liver disease. Sadly, due to societal, ethnic and deprivation reasons, my constituency and Ealing lag behind other areas. I urge the Minister to look at the positive examples of ICSs, such as North West London ICS, and see how the great work they are doing can be replicated more widely across the country. I also ask the Minister to expand the work needed to ensure equitable access for all to those improved pathways.

15:07

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) for securing today’s important debate, and for the comprehensive manner in which he introduced the issue and highlighted the scale of the problem. We have had a very informed debate. Obesity is a problem on an escalating global scale, with Scotland’s obesity levels among the highest of OECD countries. Indeed, I was until recently classed as obese myself, and despite reducing a bit I am still in the overweight category. I am going the right way, but I have a long way to go to catch up with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who has made much greater headway than I have.

Obesity vastly increases the chances of a person developing a range of lifetime diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and several other forms of cancer, as well as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is what we are focusing on. Obesity reduces quality of life and ultimately contributes to premature death. As we have heard, the UK is very much the sick man of Europe in terms of obesity, and sadly rates of obesity are even higher in Scotland than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Two thirds of adults aged 16 and over in Scotland are overweight, and nearly one in three people are obese, placing them at higher risk of premature death, chronic disease and a multitude of cancers. Obesity doubles the risk of developing liver cancer.

The causes of obesity are complicated and vary from person to person. They include the genetic make-up of a person and biological and social factors. It is also heavily influenced by health inequalities. A report by Public Health Scotland found that for children from the most deprived backgrounds, the risk of obesity was almost three times higher than for those from the least deprived—21% versus 8%. There can be no denying that poverty is a significant factor, as are housing, education, access to open spaces, exposure to advertising and the availability and sale of unhealthy foods, all of which affect whether we can be active or eat healthily and consequently have an impact on the risks of developing obesity. The predominant driver in all those factors is what we eat, which is in turn shaped by our environment. For example, for many living in poverty, eating healthy food is a secondary consideration to just eating at all —or even heating their homes. Access to healthy food should be a right, not a privilege.

I am therefore delighted that the Scottish Government have committed to restricting less healthy food promotions and to improving the availability of healthier options when people are eating out in their Out of Home action plan. Their support has also meant investment of more than £400,000 in the last five years to help smaller businesses reformulate common products to make them healthier. That plays an important role in improving dietary health by removing hundreds of millions of calories from Scottish food and drink products. We could, and need to, do a lot more on that if we are going to improve people’s diet, and local companies that are rising to the reformulation challenge should be commended for their efforts.

More needs to be done, however. Minister Jenni Minto announced in Holyrood last month that the Scottish Government will undertake a consultation on regulations to restrict promotions of food high in fat, sugar and salt. That is a vital next step in fixing the broken food system, which is driving the obesity and fatty liver disease crisis in Scotland. So I echo other hon. Members’ points and ask the Minister to commit to delivering prior policy commitments that are still to be implemented. Those include implementing the 9 pm watershed to protect children from junk food advertising on TV and online, and banning multi-buy junk food deals. Those measures enjoy huge public popularity, and I believe they would be effective tools.

The Scottish Government are at the forefront of efforts to strengthen obesity prevention and improve earlier detection of liver disease, including through pioneering use of intelligent liver function tests in primary care, which are now being piloted in sites across England as well. The British Liver Trust categorised my local health board, NHS Lothian, as green in autumn 2022, as it now has a fully effective patient care pathway for the early detection of liver disease. That is important because the mortality rate for chronic liver disease in my local health board is lower than the national average in Scotland, at 15.3 versus 17.9 per 100,000, reflecting the growing momentum for action to help improve liver disease outcomes and save lives.

Scotland is also at the forefront of harnessing new diagnostic tools to improve earlier detection of liver disease. The hon. Member for Strangford and others have spoken about how detection is important. We must prevent people from becoming ill in the first place if we really are to tackle the problem. However, by the time people are diagnosed, we often find they are too far down the pathway to make significant improvement.

The intelligent liver function testing pathway developed by the University of Dundee uses an automated algorithm-based system to further investigate abnormal liver function test results on initial blood samples from primary care. Intelligent liver function tests represent a nearly threefold increase in the diagnosis of liver disease and are estimated to be saving the NHS more than £3,000 per patient with an abnormal liver blood test. Indeed, iLFTs are now being piloted in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Liverpool and north London, and the roll-out of such technology is welcome. I urge Ministers to look at other examples of good practice from the devolved nations to help improve patients’ pathways for early detection and management of liver disease. Will he commit to delivering a new nationally endorsed pathology pathway for early diagnosis of liver disease that incorporates intelligent liver function testing in primary care?

In conclusion, we know that obesity doubles the risk of developing liver cancer, which is now the fastest rising cause of cancer death in the UK. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is now the fastest rising cause of hepatocellular carcinoma globally. In Scotland, liver cancer has seen the largest increase in mortality rates—38%—of all cancer types over the past decade, and liver cancer is now the fastest rising cause of cancer death in the UK. Unfortunately, Scotland has the highest incidence of liver cancer among our four nations.

The liver disease public health crisis disproportionately impacts our most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. In 2021, chronic liver disease mortality rates in Scotland were 5.8 times higher in the most deprived areas than in the most affluent. Individuals in deprived areas are more likely to develop liver disease, be hospitalised with it and die from it than those in affluent areas. We must improve early diagnosis and prevention if we are to tackle this issue. That also means tackling poverty and health inequalities.

14:15

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone, and to respond on behalf of the Opposition health and social care team. As the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day) said, it has been a very well-informed debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) for the exceptional work that he and the other members of the APPG on liver disease and liver cancer are doing to raise awareness of this vital issue.

As has been demonstrated, rising obesity poses a profound threat to public health. We have heard today—from Strangford to Erewash, and from Southall to Linlithgow—that this is an issue across the United Kingdom. Before we hear from the Minister, I want to say how impressed I am with how everyone has tackled their own health and wellbeing through exercise, and I will certainly try to do better the next time I come to one of these debates.

As we have heard, obesity can impact on cardiovascular disease, as well as a variety of other conditions, not least non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The British Liver Trust estimates that deaths as a result of liver disease have doubled in the last 20 years—that is a sobering statistic—with mortality rates are four times higher in the most deprived areas, as we have heard. Childhood obesity is also rising at the fastest rate on record, with 39% of obese children estimated to be suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Not only is obesity rising and costing lives, but it is also causing people to live less prosperous and enjoyable lives and harming our economic productivity, as my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly said.

The case for action could not be clearer. If we want to lead happier, healthier lives, while also reducing pressure on our NHS and turbocharging our economy, we must get serious about addressing the obesity crisis. That can be done only by placing prevention at the heart of our work.

Despite our best efforts, individuals cannot tackle obesity alone. Too often, we have a narrative of personal responsibility, but it fails because it promotes harmful, outdated ideas about our bodies, and that is particularly true for women. We need a step change in how we tackle obesity as a society.

I am proud that Labour’s recently launched health mission set out a blueprint for shifting the focus of Government Departments, the NHS, and wider public services to prevention. Most relevantly to today’s debate, we want to give every child a healthy start in life, with a children’s health plan.

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup) for her work as a public health Minister—she knows of what she speaks. We would want to implement that long-overdue 9 pm watershed for junk food advertising on television and to ban paid advertising of less healthy foods on online media. That would come alongside establishing fully funded breakfast clubs in every school and a balanced and broad national curriculum with a wide range of compulsory physical activities.

That is the start of our vision for Government. For far too long, public health problems such as obesity have been viewed as falling exclusively under the purview of the Department of Health and Social Care but, as we have heard, the causes of obesity are multifaceted. It is about what we eat, but also about our access to green spaces, our genetics, the money in our pocket, our access to community care, and so much more. If we want to tackle obesity and, by extension, this disease, every cog in the Government machine must recognise its responsibilities.

For that reason, Labour has committed to embedding health in all policies through the creation of a cross-departmental mission delivery board. That would bring together all Departments with an influence over the social determinants of health and act as an accountable body akin to the Climate Change Committee. That is the kind of bold, ambitious thinking that will define the next Labour Government.

I am aware that those suffering, or at risk, from NAFLD want action from the Government now. With that in mind, I would like the Minister to address some questions. First, in relation to obesity and prevention more generally, the Government recently launched their consultation for the major conditions strategy, singling out six major groups of health conditions but, unfortunately, there is no mention of obesity in the consultation documents, although cases of several of the diseases mentioned are rising in part because of obesity. It would therefore be helpful if the Minister set out what role preventive obesity policy will play in those major disease conditions. Similarly, concerns have been raised that there was no mention of liver disease in the strategy. Will he therefore set out how he plans to address increases in liver disease, and specifically NAFLD?

I also want to press the Minister on health inequalities. The British Liver Trust describes liver disease as, effectively, a barometer for underlying health inequalities. It points out that the main risk factors—obesity, alcohol misuse and viral hepatitis—are most prevalent in marginalised communities, and we heard some shocking statistics from my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma). That goes back to the point made earlier about the wider determinants of health. Unless the Government implement a coherent strategy for health inequalities, we will never be in a position to drive down liver disease.

The Minister will remember that in 2019 the Government pledged to extend healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030. The clock is ticking. Not only is the target on track to be missed, but things are actually getting worse—inequalities in life expectancy are widening. Given that the Government binned their health disparities White Paper, will the Minister provide an update on how he plans to reverse the health inequalities that have widened on this Government’s watch?

We know that liver disease is largely asymptomatic in its early stages and that diagnosis is essential in providing effective treatment. As we have heard, one in four people diagnosed with alcohol-related liver disease in hospital die within 60 days, and there is evidence of huge geographical variation in the pathways for early diagnosis. Given that grim picture, what assessment has the Minister made of current diagnostic provision for liver disease, and how will he improve that picture so that, no matter where someone lives, they can receive a timely diagnosis?

In conclusion, our current trajectory must not be allowed to continue. Unless we address obesity and rising fatty liver disease, more lives will sadly be lost, and our health service will come under existential pressure. Labour stands ready and waiting to address this crisis, but we cannot afford to wait. The Government must get to work now. We look forward to hearing from the Minister.

14:22

[The Minister for Health and Secondary Care (Will Quince)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) for securing a debate on this hugely important issue, and of course to the all-party parliamentary group that he chairs for its important work on tackling liver disease and liver cancer. I am responding on behalf of the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien), who is the responsible Minister in this area. Nevertheless, I will try to give as full a response as I can.

The Government welcome the opportunity to discuss the prevention of obesity and fatty liver disease, and I thank all hon. Members who have contributed today—particularly the hon. Member for Caerphilly, my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup) and the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma), who did not have to be here but who came to raise their points.

I particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash for all her work as a Minister at the Department of Health and Social Care. She is a passionate advocate for tackling obesity and the conditions that result from it. She and I know that we do not agree on everything—we have had many a debate on this issue—but we both believe passionately in tackling it, because we know how important it is.

As has been said, liver disease is one of the most significant killers of working-age people in England, and I suspect that that is the same across our United Kingdom. In the last two decades, around 90% of liver deaths in England have been related to lifestyle and unhealthy environment, and the vast majority are alcohol related. These diseases are responsible for a four-times increase in liver mortality over the past few decades. The populations most at risk from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are those living with obesity or type 2 diabetes.

Alongside its role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease— I appreciate that the focus of today’s debate is obesity—obesity is also the leading cause of other serious non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, and it is associated with poor mental health. As the hon. Member for Caerphilly pointed out, this represents a huge cost to the health and wellbeing of individuals, and also to the NHS, wider society and our economy. It is estimated—this must be correct, because the hon. Gentleman and I have exactly the same figure—that obesity costs the NHS £58 billion. That is a loss to the economy and, importantly, a reduction in the quality of life of people up and down the country.

Although obesity rates have been relatively stable over the past few years—in fact, over the past decade—they are still stubbornly high. About one in four adults, and one in four children aged 10 to 11, live with obesity, so the prevalence remains far too high. I am particularly concerned about childhood obesity, not just because I am a Minister at the Department for Health and Social Care, but because I am a former Children’s Minister and Minister with responsibility for school sport.

Two weeks ago, I represented the United Kingdom at the World Health Assembly. I spoke to representatives of about 25 other countries, and it was interesting how many times obesity came up as a challenge that they are facing too, so we need to work together. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said, it is not just about our United Kingdom; we need to work together and share best practice globally to make sure we are tackling this issue together. I raise the point about children because, from my work as Children’s Minister, especially on early years, and as a father of two children, I know too well that habits are formed really young, so we have to tackle this issue at the earliest possible point.

Data shows that people in lower income groups are more likely to be living with obesity than the rest of the population. Nevertheless, the issue is prevalent across all groups, as the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall said. The hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth) raised health inequalities and the major conditions strategy, which sits with the Minister for Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately). I know she would be happy to meet hon. Members to discuss the major conditions strategy ahead of the interim report, which I understand is due to come out this summer. I am happy to commit my ministerial colleagues to meet hon. Members, as I do regularly.

Obesity is a complex problem that is caused by many factors, and there is no single solution. My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash and I have had many debates on this issue, and there are many ways that we can tackle it. It is multifaceted and complex, and therefore the solution will inevitably be somewhat complicated.

I am not particularly fond of talking about my own health. I often hear people say that they prefer the expression “living with obesity” to “obese people”. When we come back to Parliament and are sworn in again, they take our photo. I was 19.5 stone at the time of the 2019 general election, and they still, to this day, use that photo. I turn up at events and people say, “You don’t look anything like your photo.” The point I am trying to make is that I know how difficult these things are; it is a daily battle to lose weight and keep it off. It is a mixture of diet and exercise. I passionately believe that we need to empower people to make better, healthier life choices. There are interventions that we are making and further interventions that we should make to tackle this issue. I assure the House that, although this is not my direct ministerial responsibility, I am a passionate but realistic advocate of the measures that we can and should take to tackle obesity.

I genuinely believe that a mix of actions at a local and national level are required to help with the prevention of excess weight gain and to promote healthy behaviours. We know that obesity does not develop overnight; it builds up over time. It is frequently about excessive calorie consumption. It does not have to mean overeating hundreds of calories a day, although we all do that sometimes, and we then have to overcompensate in another way. It often means small amounts of excess calories, consumed regularly, which add up for adults and children, so there is a big education piece that we need to do. We are doing that, but we need to do more.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash said, yesterday, as part of action to treat those already living with obesity, the Government announced plans for a two-year pilot, backed by £40 million, to look at ways of expanding access to new weight loss drugs outside of a hospital setting through primary care that more eligible patients will be able to benefit from, therefore reducing their risk of obesity-associated illness.

One area that is certainly within my ministerial responsibility is our work on research with the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Obesity is one of our national healthcare missions; we are determined to look at some of the innovative solutions out there to help people to take control, and empower them to make healthier life choices and control their weight.

[Wayne David]

I note that the Minister said there is Government support—in a limited way, at the moment—for weight loss drugs. I welcome that, but I am cautious; there is a real danger of placing too much emphasis on drugs as a way to lose weight. They can be in addition to other measures, but those other measures are critical. I welcome the Minister’s views on that, but there is a danger of putting too much emphasis on those drugs.

[Will Quince]

The hon. Gentleman raises a good point; I totally agree. As further details are published, he will see the current criteria for accessing those drugs. The reality is that more and more are coming on stream, and they will be part of our arsenal and one of our tools to help people tackle obesity and make healthier life choices.

What do we also know about the drugs? Well, we know that they are effective. However, they are effective only for as long as someone takes them, unless they change their lifestyle and behaviour. Anything we do in relation to drugs must be alongside an education piece, and supporting and empowering people to make healthier life choices. Ultimately, and ideally, we do not want people to be on drugs for the rest of their lives where it is not necessary. We want the drugs to be a tool and enabler to help and support them to get to a place where they can manage their own weight. That might be difficult for some people and they may struggle to do so, and for others it may not. It is just a helping hand; the hon. Gentleman is right.

As hon. Members made their contributions, I scribbled down the actions—just in my own mind—that the Government have taken over the past few years, such as calorie labels on food in supermarkets. I know that that made such a difference, because when I am looking, I make active choices. I look at the traffic light system, I look at the calories, and I look at the amount of salt and sugar in these products; and doing so enables me to make healthier choices. That is important. There is the calorie labelling on food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafés and takeaways, which came into force back in April—not uncontroversially.

[Maggie Throup]

My hon. Friend is right that there is a lot more information there for people to make informed decisions on, but there are also hidden contents that people are not being informed about, such as the ultra-processed foods. Products may be labelled as low in fat, but they have other products in them to ensure that they will taste okay and still be low in fat. We need to not just look more at the overall messaging on packaging, but ensure that we reduce some other items in the products that are causing the obesity crisis.

[Will Quince]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; we are constantly learning more. At the moment, I do not think there is a definition of an “ultra-processed food”. There has been a lot of work. We are learning more and more about the issue and it has recently exploded into the public domain. We need to ensure that more people are aware of and being educated about what is actually in their food, and that they are looking at labels. If we go back 20 years, we were all very much alive to E numbers —does everyone remember E numbers?—which no one looked at before. Now, we often look over the back of the packaging to see the number of E numbers in our products. The more that the public are educated and informed so that they can look out for these things, the better. My hon. Friend the Member for Harborough will be happy to discuss this further with my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash. I know that ultra-processed foods are an issue about which the public are concerned, and we certainly have more to do on food labelling.

[Jim Shannon]

The Minister always brings good responses. The SNP spokesperson, the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day), made a comment that I endorse totally, because it is something that I hear from my constituents every week. With respect, many people can look at the labels and see what they mean, but what do they look at first? They look at the price, because they are trying to make a meal for their family. What drives them will be, “What can I afford to do?” I am conscious that the Minister has been very constructive in his responses, but there must be a wee bit of reality as well.

[Will Quince]

I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. He is absolutely right; not everyone has the luxury to make choices, and they will often have to go for the cheapest products or products that are available in their area when others might not be. That is why it is so important that we continue the work with industry on reformulation.

Personally, I have been more of a convert to Government action in this area. The soft drinks industry levy has been hugely successful. The industry was already doing a lot of that work. Nevertheless, the levy has nudged and pushed it further in the right direction—but there is more work to do.

I would push back ever so slightly on a couple of the comments that have been made today about industry not wanting to do this. It is not moving at the pace that we want, expect and need it to, but it is doing it. The sugar content of cereal is down by about 15%, and it is down by about 14% in yoghurts and fromage frais. We need industry members to go further, but they are doing it because they are responding directly to what their customers and consumers are telling them they want, and to people actively choosing healthier products. However, we have more to do on reformulation and working with industry.

We will also introduce restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9 pm. I will answer the question on that from my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash in just a moment. The major conditions strategy call for evidence is open, and, as I said, my hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent will gladly meet colleagues to discuss that.

There is also the piece of work around supporting people with weight management, such as the NHS digital weight management programme, the weight loss drug programme and pilot that we announced yesterday, which I just spoke about, and the better health campaigns—including the NHS weight loss app Couch to 5k, which, if anyone has not tried it, is a great way of getting into running, and Active 10. There is also the NHS health check, which includes checking on BMI, encouraging people and giving them the tools to take control of their health.

Then there is the research piece. As I say, this is one of our healthcare missions. Obesity is right there at the top; we want to see the newest and most innovative products and medicines coming forward and being used first in this country.

The hon. Member for Bristol South is absolutely right that this cannot just be an issue for the Department of Health and Social Care; it must be a cross-Government issue. I remember when I was the Children’s Minister and had responsibility for school sport: looking at school sport investment and premiums, at the upskilling of primary school PE teachers in particular, and at the holiday activities and food programme, which was specifically targeted at children in receipt of free school meals.

I remember visiting some eye-opening educational programmes. In one example—I would love to get a number of parliamentary colleagues to try this experiment—there was range of soft drinks, from a Monster energy drink through to flavoured water, and a big box of sugar cubes. The children were asked to put against each product the number of sugar cubes they thought it contained. You would be amazed, Mr Hollobone, how many children put six cubes against the water and very few against the Monster or the full-fat Coke, despite the can of Coke containing something like six cubes of sugar. In schools, we are also promoting the daily mile, the healthy schools programme and healthy school meals. That is all important work, but do we need to do more? Of course we do.

My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash asked about the delay to policies, specifically to the restrictions on advertising and promotions. I understand her frustration but the delay to advertising restrictions allows the Government and regulators to carry out certain processes necessary for the robust implementation of the restrictions. Those processes include carrying out consultations, appointing a frontline regulator, the laying of regulations and the drafting of guidance. She asked specifically when that is coming in; it will be in October 2025. She also asked about the volume price promotions ban, which was delayed due to the unprecedented global economic situation. I do not know the answer and I do not want to mislead her. The legislation states October this year, but I do not know latest position, so I will ask my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough to write to her.

[Wayne David]

I think there was an intake of breath in the Chamber when the Minister mentioned October 2025 for the introduction of the limit on advertising. Is there any way that he would support measures to circumvent the excessively long delay? I think the will is there; it is a question of just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s to ensure that everybody is on board. That can be done relatively quickly, if there is the political will.

[Will Quince]

As much as the hon. Gentleman tempts me to make Government policy on the hoof, as it is not my policy area I will refrain from doing so. I will ask my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough to speak directly with the hon. Gentleman to see if there is any way that process could be accelerated.

I will turn to early diagnosis and community diagnostic centres—a subject raised by the hon. Members for Caerphilly and for Bristol South, and by my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash. I am a massive fan of community diagnostic centres. In fact, I was in one in Roehampton this morning.

NHS England is playing a key role in helping to reduce preventable deaths from liver disease, and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash alluded to, it has begun the process of fibroscans through community diagnostic centres. There is a £2.3 billion programme to increase the number of CDCs across the country to 160. The commitment so far is that 100 of them will be diagnosing liver disease by March 2025. If we can accelerate that, we will. We are accelerating the CDC programme. That is within my gift, and I will look at that closely to see what is within the art of the possible. Of course, I am keen to see what we can do to boost diagnostic capacity to diagnose liver disease and improve earlier diagnosis, which leads to improved health outcomes.

The hon. Member for Strangford asked about work in Northern Ireland. We do so much work across the United Kingdom on public health, research and medicines, as well as in the health space. I do not know the specific answer, because it does not sit within my portfolio, but I have no doubt that my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough will be working on that on an all-nation basis. The spirit of collaboration is important when it comes to these issues.

A lot of poor health is preventable; that point has been made a number of times during the debate. People instinctively want to be and to stay healthy. Sadly, however, most people who are diagnosed with liver disease at a late stage, when it is less treatable, are often diagnosed during an emergency hospital admission. That has to change, and the Government are determined to take action to make the needed changes. As the hon. Member for Caerphilly said, today is International NASH Day—a day to raise awareness of non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease and its more advanced form. I hope that by debating the topic, we have raised awareness of that hugely important issue, and of the disease.

14:44

[Wayne David]

We have had an excellent debate. The Chamber has heard contributions from six Members, and although they have been from different political parties there has been a unanimity among them about the importance of the issue and some of the measures that need to be put in place urgently to tackle the fatty liver disease crisis.

The Minister has made some positive remarks, it has to be said, but I hope that he will report back to his colleagues to ensure that the issue is given greater priority within the Department of Health and Social Care. He has made certain commitments to provide information and make representations on the basis of what has been said. I hope he will do that—I think he will.

It is essential that we move forward, as far as possible on a consensual basis. We all recognise that this is a huge issue that has to be addressed as a matter of urgency. To do that we need the will of the Government to work with others, to come forward with a policy, as they now have, and to develop that policy to address the situation in the not-too-distant future.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the matter of preventing obesity and fatty liver disease.

14:45

Sitting suspended.

World Ocean Day

Thursday 8th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Pauline Latham in the Chair]

14:59

[Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered World Ocean Day.

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairship, Mrs Latham. Our ocean, our largest ecosystem, is a precious natural resource and for too long we have taken it for granted and somewhat abused it. Over and illegal fishing in some parts of the world, pollution, including by chemicals, plastics and nutrients, and overdevelopment along coastlines have all contributed to our ocean not being as healthy as it should be. There is an urgency to tackle global climate change, and given the right focus, support and investment, the ocean is one of our best and most cost-efficient nature-based solutions. As an island nation, our national seas also have huge social and economic value for the UK and especially for our coastal communities. The ocean is our bright blue hope.

Today is the 31st anniversary of World Ocean Day, which gives us the opportunity to highlight and support the implementation of worldwide sustainable development goals and to foster public interest in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources. This year it specifically raises awareness and supports the goal and the commitment from global leaders to conserve at least a third of our land, water and ocean by 2030, known as 30x30. It also builds on the high seas treaty agreed in March this year by a number of nations to protect the world’s biodiversity in international waters.

The historic high seas treaty took 10 years of negotiations to reach agreement. It aims to safeguard and recuperate marine nature and provides the ability to more easily realise the target of establishing 30% of the global ocean as marine protected areas by 2030. The treaty also strengthens governance of the world’s ocean by providing the framework to manage the ocean and sustainably use its biological resources. Prior to the treaty, there was no means for nation states to declare marine protected areas beyond their national jurisdiction. The new treaty supports a holistic ocean governance framework as a means to implement the obligations to protect and preserve the marine environment, as included in the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.

That is an important step as the ocean covers 70% of the planet’s surface area and produces around 50% of the oxygen we breathe. It has a hugely significant role to play in slowing down the rate of climate change. Since 1978, more than 90% of the Earth’s increased heat and 40% of carbon emitted from burning fossil fuels have been absorbed by the ocean. Furthermore, it is estimated that the ocean has absorbed between 25% and 30% of all carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activity, making it the largest carbon sink in the world.

The sea is home to most of our biodiversity. According to the United Nations, 3 billion people globally rely on the ocean for their livelihoods, and around 200 million people are employed either directly or indirectly in related industries. However, the UN also states that carbon emissions from human activity are causing ocean warming, acidification and oxygen loss.

A debate about the ocean could cover many topics, including plastic, sewage, chemical or nutrient pollution, marine protected areas, fishing, and renewable energy opportunities and risks. I am sure that some hon. Members will discuss those today. I want to focus on blue carbon and ocean-based solutions to climate change, which, worryingly, are disappearing and require urgent global restoration and protection. We also need to conserve and use ocean resources sustainably, as healthy oceans and seas are essential to human existence and life on Earth. For too long our ocean has been the missing part of our path to net zero. It is essential that Governments across the world take rapid action to increase the ocean’s critical role in tackling climate change.

Our oceans offer significant solutions that can mitigate and combat climate change. It is predicted that blue carbon ecosystems could sequester and store around 2% of UK emissions per year. There is huge potential lying beneath our waters, which have yet to be fully realised.

According to estimates from the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s salt marshes and subtidal muds and sands alone captured at least 10.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2018—the real amount could be as much as six times higher. That carbon sequestration, according to the ONS, is of significant economic as well as environmental value—valued at more than what is earned from exploiting our oceans for oil and natural gas.

Let us not forget that our coastal salt marsh areas can help protect against flooding from sea level rise if properly restored, maintained and managed. Seagrass meadows provide among the most productive ecosystems in the world. An area the size of a football pitch can support more than 50,000 fish and more than 700,000 invertebrates, which is good news for our marine habitats and fishing communities around the UK. One acre of seagrass can sequester 740 lb of carbon per year, or 83 grams of carbon per square metre, which is the same amount emitted by a car travelling 3,860 miles.

[Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is not enough understanding of how important blue carbon is or of the crucial role that the ocean could play in absorbing and capturing carbon? It is, therefore, great that we have the opportunity to debate it today.

[Sally-Ann Hart]

Yes, I completely agree with my right hon. Friend. One issue is that we do not yet have enough data and research to truly evaluate the amazing role that blue carbon can play.

UK coastal habitats such as seagrass and salt marsh provide an estimated £48 billion of economic benefits to society, despite occupying only 0.6% of the total land area. Based on available data, the Office for National Statistics values the UK’s marine natural capital assets at £211 billion, so protecting and restoring the UK’s marine natural capital assets preserves more than the environment. It has value for people and the economy.

Maintaining and, more importantly, restoring and improving marine ecosystems to sequester carbon is vital in mitigating climate change. Fully restored, our coastal ecosystems could capture emissions equivalent to one third of the UK’s 2028 emissions and save an estimated £6.2 billion in spending on artificial flood defences by 2050. It is essential that the UK Government take further measures that protect and restore our marine areas, ensure greater research and provide more sustainable funding for all types of blue carbon and carbon dioxide removal. But no Government can fund entirely the actions needed to unleash the full power of nature. They need to look carefully at how they can encourage and facilitate private sector funding.

There are new fledgling organisations such as the social enterprise Bright Tide, which was founded by Harry Wright. Bright Tide is doing a sterling job in working with businesses to address urgent climate and biodiversity challenges around the world. I ask the Minister to outline what the Government are doing to recognise and facilitate funding to protect ocean nature-based solutions.

Also, will the Minister update the House on the measures that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has taken to ensure that blue carbon habitats are restored, increased and properly protected? Our ocean is incredibly important to coastal communities such as mine—beautiful Hastings and Rye—because many livelihoods, from fishermen and tourism to aquaculture and renewable energy, depend on a healthy, clean and functional coastal environment to ensure long-living and sustainable industries. Without careful planning and review of impacts from human activities, both the environment and livelihoods are at risk.

I chair the all-party parliamentary group on coastal communities and the all-party parliamentary group for the ocean. Coastal communities and our national seas are interlinked—co-dependent. The APPG for the ocean’s first inquiry, into blue carbon and ocean-based solutions to climate change, produced an excellent and comprehensive report, “The Ocean: Turning the Tide on Climate Change”, and three of our eight recommendations were echoed in the Government’s recent environment improvement plan. They include our recommendations to remove trawl or dredge zones, which can destroy marine ecosystems and disturb seabed carbon stores, from UK MPAs; create highly protected marine areas; and include more aspects of marine carbon storage and sequestration, specifically seagrass and salt marsh habitats, in the UK greenhouse gas inventory.

Our report also highlighted that investing in coastal and ocean-based solutions can considerably boost industry and the economy in coastal areas. As an MP for a coastal community and as chair of the APPG on coastal communities, I recognise at first hand the solutions that the ocean can offer in mitigating and combating climate change. I also recognise the added value, huge benefits and potential that ocean-based solutions can have for coastal communities in creating new skills and jobs in tourism, ecotourism, seabed mapping activity, the renewable energy industry, environment and ecology, aquaculture, fishing and so on. Nature is the most cost-effective solution in combating climate change, as well as providing added value. We must unleash her power.

The report also highlighted that blue carbon and ocean-based solutions are often neglected in conversations about climate change, despite the fact that the destruction of marine habitats such as seagrass—the wonder grass—may be of greater consequence than land-based destruction such as deforestation. Why are they overlooked? Part of the reason is the lack of understanding, research and data. Certain types of ocean-based solutions, such as those that could occur in the open ocean or seabed, are even less understood and require greater mapping to understand the clear benefits. It is time to review our ocean, not only as something that needs protecting, but as a useful tool—a living, breathing organism that can help us tackle climate change.

Finally, with the increasingly diverse uses and potential uses of the ocean and the growth in areas designated for marine conservation, there are clearly growing spatial pressures on our ocean—spatial squeeze. That may have an effect on our more traditional industries, such as our fishing fleets. I know that the fishermen of Hastings and Rye are concerned about that. We must ensure that offshore renewables—windfarms and tidal stream energy for example—blue carbon habitats, marine protected areas, fishing grounds, aquaculture, cables, oil and gas all coexist, where possible, so that there is space for all without detriment to traditional industries such as fishing or to the marine environment. There is an argument to be explored for a new approach to marine spatial planning that involves the co-management of our national seas and greater accountability for regulators. I would be keen to hear the Minister’s thoughts on that.

By protecting, researching and investing in ocean-based solutions and blue carbon habitats, the UK can ensure that our net zero targets are met, that coastal communities can benefit from significant opportunities and that the ocean becomes an active player in climate change mitigation. We all need to work together to ensure that that happens.

15:14

[Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Latham. I warmly thank and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) on securing this debate on World Ocean Day. She is a great champion of coastal communities in general and Hastings and Rye in particular.

As we have heard, the ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface and is the largest carbon sink on the planet. To take just one example, salt marsh and seagrass habitats can store and hold massive amounts of carbon for thousands of years, so there is huge potential for ocean-based solutions—so-called blue carbon—to play a key role in delivering net zero and protecting the climate from disaster. At the same time, well-managed blue carbon projects can help deliver levelling up through the creation of new high-paying, high-quality jobs in coastal communities.

The massive potential of blue carbon was highlighted in the report, “The Ocean: Turning the Tide on Climate Change”, published last year by the APPG for the ocean, of which I am a member. In it, we pointed out that we cannot hope to succeed in our ambitions on combating climate change without using ocean and land-based carbon removal solutions, so we need better mapping of the blue carbon habitat within the UK’s exclusive economic zone. We also need more research, more data and a better understanding of the capacity of the marine environment to absorb and store carbon. That goes beyond salt marshes and seagrass to include ideas such as seaweed cultivation and ocean alkalinity enhancement.

To harness the potential of blue carbon, it is vital that we do more to protect the marine environment and the biodiversity it contains. That brings me to plastic. Plastic pollution is one of the great tragedies of our time. Plastic is a versatile material that has many benefits, but we must find a way to reduce its use, recycle more of it and, above all, ensure it is disposed of responsibly. It is shocking that, less than a century after its invention, such a vast volume of plastic has made its way into every corner of the ocean. I feel genuinely disturbed when I see pictures of the impact that it has on wildlife, including of young birds that perish because they are fed plastic by their parents, which mistake it for food. We have to do something about the situation. I know the Government are taking a strong, leading role in tackling the scourge of plastics pollution and have passed some of the world’s first laws against microbeads in personal care products, which was a big step forward.

I also welcome the fact that the Government pioneered the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance to seek the international action that is so crucial. They are also leading the Global Ocean Alliance to meaningfully protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, but there is a vast amount of work that still has to be done. For example, we need to consider how to reduce the flow into the sea of microfibres from clothing. In that regard, I commend the campaign led by my hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Alberto Costa), the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and the Marine Conservation Society for filters that catch such fibres to become mandatory in new washing machines sold from 2025.

Let us also see the delivery of the Government’s long-promised extended producer responsibility and deposit return schemes to promote plastic recycling, reuse and responsible disposal. I have mentioned that to the Minister many times; she knows my views. I hope that the frankly chaotic situation with the Scottish National party version of DRS will not jeopardise getting a workable scheme in place across the whole of the UK.

Above all, we must have more concerted action globally if we are to tackle the problem of plastics pollution in the ocean effectively. Progress on that is being made, too: the draft high seas treaty agreed in March signals a real intent to ensure that human activities in the high seas are consistent with conservation objectives. I urge the Government to engage energetically in securing the international treaty on plastics that is vital in driving forward the rescuing of our oceans.

In conclusion, we have a responsibility to act against plastic pollution and the destruction of precious ocean habitats. Together with our overseas territories, we are stewards of one of the world’s largest marine estates. This nation built a vast empire largely because we had the most powerful Navy on the planet, which has protected our shores and our freedom ever since it was founded by Alfred the Great over 1,000 years ago. Our continuing links with the overseas territories are one of the last legacies of that once-mighty empire, so let us use those ties of friendship and history to work with overseas territories to push forward with further protection for the seas and oceans that have played such a seminal part in our island’s story. It is essential that we safeguard them for the future.

15:20

[Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Latham. I echo the words of congratulation of my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) on securing this debate. This issue is enormously important, and does not get enough time in this House. Even as the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on global deforestation, I find that we are too apt to look at what happens on land, and not apt enough to look at what happens at sea. This is a very appropriate and topical debate, particularly on World Ocean Day, as my hon. Friend said.

I am pleased to see the progress that has been made in recent months, including the treaty that was agreed back in March and the output of the various conferences of the parties of the past 18 months. I hope that the next COP, due to take place in the United Arab Emirates this autumn, will drive improvements to our approach to tackling biodiversity loss. I equally hope that it will reflect the need to protect ocean biodiversity.

I will focus on three aspects of the challenge we face: the need to protect more, the need to restore more, and the need to enforce more. Let me start with protection. The Minister knows of my concern to ensure that we accelerate our work on marine protected areas and highly protected marine areas; we debated that in this Chamber only recently. That is fundamentally important both for our nation and for the globe, because protected areas are about not just the UK but important areas of marine ecology around the world.

But let us start at home. We are making progress. The work that the Government have done on Dogger Bank and in other areas is very welcome, as is their ambition. As the Minister knows, my only concern is the pace. We need to do more, because although we have marine protected areas, most people would judge them not to be particularly well protected at all. In those areas, we still allow large industrial trawlers to scan the seabed with huge mechanical equipment, causing all kinds of damage and destruction. That may be appropriate in some parts of the sea, but it is inappropriate in our marine protected areas. It is particularly important that we accelerate the process that has started. As we have left the common fisheries policy, we have the freedom to apply proper protections. We will renegotiate our fishing arrangements with the European Union in the next couple of years. I suspect that those in Brussels are probably expecting things to carry on much as they are. We must ensure that is not the case, and that we really do take a significant step forward in applying UK-focused and ecology-focused rules to our fisheries, particularly those that are in need of much greater protection.

There is also the issue of the highly protected marine areas, which are much smaller. A substantial part of the seas around the United Kingdom are covered by our protected marine areas. The highly protected marine areas are much smaller, which is as it should be, because very little fishing should take place there at all. They need to expand too, and the Benyon review was very constructive in that respect. Of course, Lord Benyon is now very much at the heart of delivering this.

We must not make the same mistake as Scotland, which pressed ahead without engaging and involving the fishing communities. I take the view that the fishing communities of this country benefit from measures that look after our marine life and particularly our fisheries, because without those, the fishing communities have no livelihood. I do not think that our fishing fleets in the UK have anything to fear from a more robust approach to marine protection, because they see their fisheries disappear when we have huge industrial boats scouring the ocean in areas where we should be restoring fish stocks, not allowing them deteriorate still further. The benefit of highly protected marine areas, where there is virtually no take at all, is that they really do give the fish and the other life a chance to recover. In fact, fish stocks in areas around the most protected areas, where there is genuine enforcement, are now better as a result, and fishing fleets benefit from that.

I will continue to push the Minister, who I know is very sympathetic on this issue, and, through her, her officials to get on with this. They have made a good start, but I still see no reason why we cannot deliver a complete ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas and deliver a significant increase in the area covered by highly protected areas in the time left in this Parliament. Our fishing communities and our ecology would benefit greatly if we did.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye mentioned the 2030 goals—the 30x30 protections. We have to play our part in ensuring that other countries do the same as us, and help them where they need political, financial or other support to do so. It is all well and good the UK protecting our waters, but if others do not do the same, we clearly do not achieve anything like what we need to achieve globally. Our ocean is a global asset. We have to protect it. We need to support other countries in enforcing proper protections in their marine protected areas, and in banning the most damaging fishing practices in those areas, so that see the ecology recovers.

This does work. When we put in place greater protections, numbers rise. We need only look at the whale population. Whales were in serious danger of extinction, but since positive steps were taken globally to ban whaling, numbers have started to surge. People can go and see these magnificent creatures all around the world now. If we take similar steps to provide appropriate protections in key areas of marine ecology—I am talking about excluding fishing, not from whole seas, but in key areas—we will benefit enormously. I am thinking of areas such as Galapagos, where until recently there was a genuine threat from some of the big, global fishing fleets that were sailing around the Pacific. We need to ensure that absolute, proper protection is in place, backed by enforcement; I will come back to enforcement in a moment. This is not just about protection of what is there; it is also about restoration of habitats that have been lost. My hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye and my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet are absolutely right: there are opportunities to recreate habitats in the ocean, which can make a real difference to supporting and restoring marine life.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye mentioned seagrass. There is clearly an opportunity for us in the United Kingdom on that. There are interesting projects taking place around the UK to begin to restore some of the seagrass that has been lost. We have lost something like 90% of our seagrass beds. We need to restore those, and we need to create the space for that to happen, because that helps marine species to recover. I would also mention kelp. If she has seen the extraordinary photography in the recent BBC “Wild Isles” series, she will have seen just how extraordinary kelp forests around the UK are. They, too, have disappeared to much too great an extent. We need to reverse that.

This does not really apply to our shores, but we must also focus on mangroves, because mangroves in coastal waters around the world have disappeared at an alarming rate, and they play a hugely important part both in the ecology of coastal areas and in protecting local communities against rising sea levels, floods, storm tides and the rest. I would therefore like—this does not fall within the Minister’s Department; it falls more to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office—those elements of our aid budget that go on supporting ecological projects to support the restoration of mangroves around the world. Of course, there are big, global efforts taking place to do that, and to restore other marine habitats.

One of the most extraordinary projects I have come across in the last couple of years is the work being done by Mars Sustainable Solutions, and community groups working with it around the world, to restore coral reefs. The before and after for such projects is quite extraordinary. If a simple piece of netting, which looks like the inside of a chip pan, is placed on the seabed near a reef that has deteriorated, the reef regrows quickly, so there is a real opportunity to restore some of what has been lost.

Too many of our reefs are in danger, and too many have suffered damage from changes to water temperature, boats and the impact of mankind, but it is possible to restore reefs more quickly than one might imagine. Across the piece, we have an opportunity. Replanting seagrass, supporting the regrowth of kelp, and restoring coral reefs and mangroves can all play a part in capturing carbon, helping to restore local habitats and making the ocean healthier, so we as a nation should be putting as much effort as we can into helping the restoration of those habitats around the world. As I say, I speak as somebody who campaigns on deforestation and, indeed, on reforestation, but we must not forget marine environments.

Then we come to the issue of enforcement, because all our efforts are pointless if illegal operations destroy marine habitats again. Along with the treaties that have been agreed over the last 18 months, the good work being done on restoration, and what I hope our Government and others will do to put in place proper protections in marine protected areas, we also need really robust enforcement, because we have too many illegal and unregulated fishing operations doing real damage to fish stocks and marine environments around the world. Often they are carried out by vessels that simply go dark. Law-abiding, decent fishing vessels go around and do their stuff with proper tracking systems onboard, so we know where they are. If I opened up an app on my phone, I could probably see where most of the vessels are. Those that do not play within the rules disappear—they go black. That cannot be tolerated, because then however many rules we put in place, damage is still being done.

We as a country need to play our part as we move to the next stage in the negotiation of global agreements. We have done some really good work in putting together frameworks for the future, but they now need to be translated into action if we are to deliver the protections and the constructive approach that have been agreed by countries around the world. However, in order to do that, there has to be proper enforcement of what is put in place. My message to the Minister is this: when it comes to illegal and unregulated fishing, we need to make sure as a nation that we take a lead in saying that the next step is not just practical ecological measures, but the enforcement to go alongside them.

There are tools that we can use. The amount of Earth observation data is now substantial—we have satellite data for even relatively small areas. Supermarkets use Earth observation data to make sure that the products they source do not come from areas of land that have been deforested, which is great. In this country, that is being driven by our pathfinding legislation, the Environment Act 2021. We have a bit more to do, as the Minister and I discuss regularly, and I will happily help push other Departments to work with her to deliver that. But that is on land, and we need to do the same in the oceans. The technology can also be used by supermarkets to look at the origin of the fish stocks they are purchasing. It can also be used by enforcement authorities to look at what is happening—who is fishing where, and who is doing what where—and to take the appropriate action. We can also support countries that do not share our economic strength or ability to take enforcement action; that piece is enormously important. It must be a central part of what we as a nation do, going into the next stage of the various COPs and international discussions about how we turn the 2030 agreements into action. We must provide proper protection, both for restoration work and for what we have at the moment.

Those are the challenges. None of them will be easy, but they are challenges that we have to meet. As a global community, we cannot see the ocean continue to deteriorate and decline. My right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet is absolutely right about plastic. I happen to believe that before too long, we will end up harvesting it from the oceans. The plastic needs to be removed, but we may well find that it has positive uses, now that technology is moving on, in helping us to combat climate change through a move away from conventional fuels, for example. We may well end up having a positive reason to take that plastic out of the ocean, but we should certainly stop putting it in. We should be taking all the steps that we can to avoid the further pollution of the ocean and further degradation of marine habitats.

We have the foundations and frameworks in place for the next 10 years. They are already agreed in principle, and they now need to turn into action. That action is about protecting what we have, restoring what we lost and enforcing good behaviour to ensure that rogue elements do not get away with doing further damage to our marine habitats. That is not a small task, but I am delighted that we have this Minister in place, because she is very committed to this issue. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye on calling for this debate. World Ocean Day is a moment for all of us to think about what else we can do, individually and collectively, to protect our oceans.

15:36

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

I echo the congratulations to the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) on bringing forward this important debate. It has become something of an annual event to have a debate that coincides with World Ocean Day on 8 June, and it follows, as we have heard, from a recent debate on the impact of plastic in our oceans.

This year’s theme is “Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing”. The tides may well be changing, because experts warn us that we are reaching a tipping point that will bring devastating and dramatic consequences for mankind with regards to our oceans. The purpose of World Ocean Day is

“to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.”

This day reminds us all of the major role that oceans play in our everyday lives. They are the lungs of our planet, a major source of food and medicine, and a critical part of our biosphere. The ocean covers the majority of the Earth, but only a small portion of its waters have actually been explored. Despite humanity’s utter reliance on it, and compared to the breadth and depth of what it gives us, the ocean receives only a fragment of our attention and resources in return. That surely has to change.

The latest estimates from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation warn that more than half of the world’s marine species may stand on the brink of extinction by 2100. Temperatures have increased by 1.1°C, and an estimated 60% of the world’s marine ecosystems have already been degraded or are being used unsustainably. Warming of 1.5°C threatens to destroy 70% to 90% of coral reefs, and a 2°C increase means a near 100% loss—a point of no return.

The ocean occupies over 70% of the planet’s surface area and produces at least 50% of the world’s oxygen. It is a hugely significant force in mitigating climate change. Despite that, its role is most often considered as passive rather than active, but it has a significant role to play in slowing down the rate of climate change. Since 1978, over 90% of Earth’s increased heat and 40% of carbon from fossil fuels have been absorbed by the ocean. In addition, it is predicted that the ocean has absorbed between 30% and 50% of all carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activity, which makes it the biggest carbon sink in the world, as we have heard today.

I want to talk about ocean acidification. When CO₂ dissolves in sea water, the water becomes more acidic. The acidity of our oceans has increased by 26% since about 1850, and staggeringly, the pace of change is around 10 times faster than at any time in the last 155 million years.

Ocean acidification reduces the amount of carbonate, which is a key building block in sea water. That makes it more difficult for marine organisms such as coral and some plankton to form their shells and skeletons and existing shells may begin to dissolve. The present-day pH of sea water is highly variable and a single organism can cope with fluctuations of different pH levels during its lifetime. The problem with ocean acidification is the sustained nature of the change, as the risk comes with the lifetime exposure to lower pH levels. Further, the rapid pace of acidification will influence the extent to which calcifying organisms will be able to adapt.

The impact of ocean acidification is not uniform across all species, but a more acidic environment will harm marine species such as molluscs, corals and some other varieties. Marine organisms could also experience changes in growth, development, abundance and survival in response to ocean acidification. Most species seem to be more vulnerable in the early stages of life. Juvenile fish, for example, may have trouble locating a suitable habitat. Research suggests that ocean acidification will also be a driver for substantial changes in ocean ecosystems this century. Those changes may be made worse by the combined effects of other emerging climate-related hazards, such as the decrease in ocean oxygen levels—a condition known as ocean deoxygenation—which is already affecting marine life in some regions. Ocean acidification also has the potential to affect food security, coastal protection, tourism, carbon storage and climate regulation because more acidic oceans are less effective in moderating climate change. To reduce the impact of ocean acidification, we need to improve our air quality, develop sustainable fisheries management practices and sustainably manage habitats, as well as establishing and maintaining marine protected areas, about which we have heard a lot today. Currently, only around 8% of our oceans are protected. We need to do more, but on a global and international basis.

A recent YouGov survey of 1,696 adults found that almost three quarters of people in the UK say ocean life needs more protection. At this juncture, I wish to pay tribute to Sir David Attenborough, whose “Blue Planet” programmes brought the ocean world into our living rooms and showed us the wonders and the beauty of our oceans in such an educational and breathtaking way. He also warned us that the living world cannot operate without a healthy ocean—nor can we. The ocean may connect, sustain and support us all, but, according to the UN,

“its health is at a tipping point and so is the well-being of all that depends on it.”

The UN hopes World Ocean Day will help inform the public of human actions on the ocean and develop a worldwide movement to protect it and unite the world in seeking to sustainably manage our oceans, making this is an important day on the global calendar.

I will end with the wise words of Sir David Attenborough:

“Nowhere is more powerful and unforgiving, yet more beautiful and endlessly fascinating than the ocean.”

It is time we act globally in a way that shows we understand how important our oceans are and stop taking them for granted.

15:44

[Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Latham. I thank the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) for securing this important debate. She and all speakers covered the issues comprehensively and laid out a number of solutions and actions that we would like to see taken forward. There is probably an element of unanimity in the debate around what needs to be done.

On World Ocean Day, we acknowledge this year’s theme of “Planet Ocean: tides are changing” as a call to intensify our efforts to understand, preserve and harness the power of our oceans. Our vast oceans hold the key to so much: biodiversity, marine ecosystems, climate change mitigation, food security, renewable energy and the future preservation of our planet. The role of our oceans in combating climate change is grossly underappreciated. More 70% of our planet’s surface is made up of ocean, which produces at least half of our world’s oxygen. Since 1978, the ocean has absorbed more 90% of the Earth’s increased heat and 40% of fossil fuel emissions, making it the world’s largest carbon sink. However, these watery giants are seldom acknowledged as active players in the fight against climate change. We need to draw focus to the power of blue carbon habitats, such as saltmarshes, seagrass meadows and mangroves. We heard extensively from other speakers on those issues.

Our seas and oceans are a rich source of biodiversity. Healthy sea beds are home to many species and drive richer marine ecosystems. Our marine environment and the creatures that call it home face numerous threats from human activity, such as damage from waste and toxins, dredging and dragging of the sea bed, and the destruction of corals, maerls and sandbanks—I could go on.

The Government’s commitment to the UN’s pledge to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 is all well and good, but their actions do not suggest that they will get us there. The latest analysis from the Wildlife and Countryside Link—the largest environment and wildlife coalition in England—found that although 40% of English waters are designated as marine protected areas, only a maximum of 8% of English seas are effectively protected for nature. While the three new protected marine areas announced by DEFRA this year are welcome, we should note that those sites represent not even 0.5% of English seas.

The impact of humankind on our oceans cannot be understated. It has now been five years since David Attenborough’s groundbreaking “Blue Planet II” forced marine plastic pollution into the public consciousness and inspired millions across the globe to take action. His work encouraged a seismic shift in the public consciousness and helped to put plastic pollution on the political agenda. Despite that, the plastic pollution problem in our oceans continues to get worse. The UN estimates that plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water could more than double by 2030. Plastics pose a significant threat to the stability of our global ecosystems and human health, as evidenced by the discovery of microplastics in both seabird eggs and human blood.

It is a global crisis, and we are not exempt from responsibility. In the UK, around 14 billion plastic bottles, 9 billion aluminium and steel cans and 1.5 billion glass bottles are consumed each year. In fact, 75% of the litter found on our streets comprises drinks containers, and much of it finds its way into our waterways. Despite that, the Government’s proposed deposit return scheme is limited to certain materials, rather than creating a framework that could include more types of plastic or bioplastics in the future. Their plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 is years behind schedule. Only a Labour Government will tackle waste, improve recycling rates and introduce an all-in deposit return scheme to tackle the problem head on.

Our seas are also of huge economic significance, supporting many British people through fishing, offshore energy, building, and tourism—I could go on. The Government’s lack of action is a huge threat to many of those jobs. Consider the worrying 44% drop in the levels of shellfish caught and landed in the UK in just the last year. In Teesside, the local fishing industry has reported a 95% drop in their catches of shellfish, such as lobsters and crabs. Such die-offs are devastating to nature and the fishing sector. However, when the shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West and Royton (Jim McMahon), addressed the House on 30 March and asked the Environment Secretary to join him in meeting the North East Fishing Collective, she responded with uncharacteristic clarity:

“I do not need to meet with them,”. —[Official Report, 30 March 2023; Vol. 730, c. 1132.]

So uncaring and callous is the Secretary of State’s attitude to our own waters and biodiversity, we can only assume she has less care for our global oceans. Talking of global oceans, let us not forget that UK overseas territories account for the fifth largest marine estate in the world. I praise Government Ministers, especially Lord Goldsmith, for the blue belt programme and Darwin initiative funding. When I spoke to many of the overseas territories in May at the UKOT conference in Westminster, they still felt that the UK did not give them a voice at global negotiations. That approach would change under Labour, as we would adopt a modern, respectful and engaged partnership with our overseas territories.

It is that sort of attitude that encapsulates how little the Government care about the impact of their actions on the livelihoods of the people they are elected to serve. The tourism industry, for example, has pleaded with the Government to help it stop sewage being dumped into waters near our beautiful beaches. Last month, nine UK beaches lost their blue flag status, including the iconic Brighton beach, which was subject to 45 sewage discharges last year. Just last month, the Government blocked Labour’s Bill that would have ended the sewage scandal and finally have made water bosses accountable.

Our coastal communities should not have to worry about water companies using their water as open sewers while the Government turn a blind eye. While it is positive to see World Ocean Day being celebrated in this way, it is now incumbent on the Government to convert warm words into concrete action and protect our blue planet.

15:49

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Trudy Harrison)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mrs Latham—two days in a row—especially for such an important debate. I have enjoyed hearing the knowledge and passion of colleagues this afternoon. It is clear that all colleagues present today recognise the importance of our ocean and the urgency with which we need to take action, and with which we are taking action. I am particularly grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) for securing the debate, which was perfectly timed, given that today is the UN’s World Ocean Day, the theme of which, as has already been said, is “Protect 30x30”, aimed at protecting at least 30% of our blue planet by 2030.

Despite the official title of UN World Oceans Day—of course, there are many different oceans—I will refer to it as World Ocean Day, because it is one ocean, all connected. The nature and species that survive, thrive and depend on our ocean see no boundaries. There is one global connected ocean, and it makes sense to design policy responses accordingly. There have been many calls this afternoon for us to work collaboratively with devolved Administrations and internationally with other countries. I will come on to the progress that has been made.

Marine life is important. A safe, healthy ocean underpins our lives and our economies and my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye was correct to say that more must be done. More is being done, but it will not be easy. We have to tackle the triple planetary crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution. Without action, plastic pollution entering the ocean is set to triple by 2040. Over 1 million species, including 33% of reef-forming corals and one third of marine mammals, are predicted to disappear entirely over our lifetimes. Meanwhile, 33% of our global fish stocks are over-exploited.

I want to pay tribute and give thanks to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) for the sterling work that she did in my Department, setting the scene and paving the way for the Environment Act 2021, off the back of which we have the recently launched environmental improvement plan 2023, which goes into far more detail than I can possibly give here today. It is not just about oceans, but about all aspects of how we will protect our planet and halt the decline of nature by 2030.

We know that many small island—or, more appropriately, big ocean—developing states are bearing the brunt of the challenges from climate change and plastic pollution. They have been raising the alarm for decades while contributing little to the problem. Here in the UK we are seeing the effects, including estimated losses of 85% of our saltmarsh and 92% of our seagrass habitats in the last 100 years.

I also want to thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) for a most insightful and interesting contribution and making us all more aware of ocean acidification. I found her contribution staggering in terms of the acceleration that our oceans are enduring.

But we can be proud of the Government’s record. I was pleased to hear the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel) commend the work of Lord Goldsmith, who attended the APPG for the ocean’s annual general meeting earlier this week, which my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye also attended. The work is cross-Government. I am also proud of the UK’s international leadership, where we have been at the forefront of securing critically important international agreements. Just last week the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow), was involved in the second intergovernmental negotiating committee on plastic pollution, demonstrating that we continue to work with other countries. At the UN biodiversity summit in December, as leader of the Global Ocean Alliance and ocean co-chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, the UK helped to deliver a landmark global deal for nature.

The Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework commits to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, including through the 30x30 target for land and the ocean. The Secretary of State attended that conference, which made such fantastic progress, along with my noble Friend Lord Benyon, who is the Minister with responsibility for oceans. There can be no better parliamentary champion for mangroves than the Secretary of State, although his passion is matched by my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), who is a fantastic champion for all things environment and nature. Once again, I heard his plea loud and clear to chivvy along officials in DEFRA, but I think we are making tremendous progress. These things are not easy, but I will support our teams and all the NGOs and devolved Administrations we work with in going as fast as we can, because we understand the urgency. I welcome the constant nudging and encouragement from him on this and other matters.

The UK was also instrumental in agreeing the draft text of the “biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction” agreement earlier this year, which will provide the framework to implement greater protection and governance for over 60% of the global ocean. This is vital to achieving the global 30x30 target.

We also know that biodiversity loss and climate change are inextricably linked. With a 2° rise in global temperature, a predicted 90% of coral reefs will be lost, so we continue to work to raise ambition on ocean-climate action across the United Nations framework convention on climate change, to fill key evidence gaps and to build capacity around the world to protect and restore blue carbon habitats. I hope my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye will recognise the work that is being done. She called for more research and development, and for better understanding, which is what we are working towards.

As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, which now numbers well over 50 countries, we are pushing for an effective and ambitious plastic pollution treaty that will end plastic pollution by 2040. As I mentioned, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane, was in Paris last week, and I am pleased that the critical decision was made to start drafting the new treaty text, with our world-leading scientists, businesses and NGOs working towards an agreement by the end of 2024.

Alongside protection, we know we have to manage our global ocean sustainably. That is why, last year, the UK joined other ambitious ocean leaders as part of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, again working and collaborating internationally, and it is why we pushed for the June 2022 WTO fisheries subsidies agreement to curtail harmful subsidies and tackle one of the key drivers of overfishing.

In parallel, we are determined to end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. I was pleased to speak at a recent debate secured by my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell on this subject. With expanding membership, the IUU Fishing Action Alliance will bring further international pressure and action to stamp out this harmful practice.

Effective ocean action is possible only with the right resources and tools to deliver it. SDG 14, “life below water,” is the least funded of all the sustainable development goals, so the UK is helping to mobilise finance for ocean action. I was particularly pleased to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye reference the importance of private finance because, of course, taxpayers’ money can go only so far. My noble Friend Lord Benyon, as the Minister with responsibility for green finance, is working diligently and determinedly to secure that private finance, particularly for the oceans. The UK’s blue belt programme is supporting the British overseas territories. It is so important that we work with our overseas territories to take action to protect the ocean. With £30 million of support since 2016, the blue belt now protects 4.3 million sq km of ocean and supports sustainable growth.

Our £500 million blue planet fund is supporting developing countries to address biodiversity loss and climate change by tackling marine pollution and supporting sustainable seafood in some of the world’s most important but fragile ocean environments. Just this morning, Lord Benyon hosted a roundtable to understand how public and private sector investment can come together to deliver a blended finance solution through the excellent global fund for coral reefs programme, which supports the ocean, reefs and climate-vulnerable communities.

But, of course, our action starts at home. We remain committed to achieving a good environmental status in our seas, and we will shortly publish an update to our programme of measures to do so. We have already built a comprehensive network of marine protected areas— 374 sites covering 38% of the UK’s waters and 40% of England’s—and we are focused on making sure that they are properly protected. Nearly 60% of England’s inshore MPAs now have fisheries byelaws in place. Having left the EU, we can put in place management to protect against damaging fishing practices in our offshore sites. The first four byelaws for offshore sites were made last year, and we plan to finish putting in the management needed in all MPAs by the end of next year.

Using the new powers in the Environment Act 2021, we now have a statutory target to make sure our MPAs are recovering our biodiversity. We have announced the first three highly protected marine areas, which provide the highest levels of protection. Those sites will be designated in the next month, and we are starting to look at further sites.

Protecting and restoring critical blue carbon habitats is a key part of our approach to protecting coastal communities, such as the one I live in, from rising seas and more frequent storms. That will deliver biodiversity and absorb carbon dioxide.

I am delighted that the cross-Administration UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership is publishing its evidence needs statement today, setting out key research questions and demonstrating the UK’s ambition to fill critical blue carbon evidence gaps. In response to the UN decade of ocean science for sustainable development, the UK has established a National Decade Committee to inspire and enable a whole-of-society approach to meeting the interconnected challenges to the ocean that we have heard about today.

[Chris Grayling]

The Minister referred to discussions that we had this week about these issues, when we spoke about the complexity of getting consent to reforest an area of the UK. Have she and her officials looked at what barriers there are, if any, to restoring areas of seagrass or kelp? If there are planning barriers, will she and her Department look at ways that we can alleviate the situation and make it easier to do that?

[Trudy Harrison]

It would not be appropriate for me to speak more about the work we are doing to speed up the way we plant trees in this country, as this is a debate about oceans. I am not the Minister directly responsible for oceans, so I will ask Lord Benyon to write to my right hon. Friend with more detailed information about any hold-ups that he has identified in the planning system, particularly around sea kelp.

Hon. Members referred to technologies, and the UK is a global leader in offshore wind. Through our offshore wind environmental improvement package, which is currently before the House as part of the Energy Bill, we are supporting the drive for net zero and energy security. The package will support the rapid deployment of offshore wind while protecting our precious marine environment through an innovative set of measures, including new environmental standards for offshore wind infrastructure, measures to enable strategic compensation and the establishment of a new marine recovery fund.

We know that the sea will only get busier. My Department is leading the cross-governmental marine spatial prioritisation programme to optimise use of our sea space and work together to increasingly co-locate uses where possible. That includes our domestic fishing industries. We are working to ensure that the industries are sustainable environmentally, economically and socially, with a diverse fishing fleet run by a fishing industry with whom we are committed to working much more closely. Of course, supporting our fishing communities through this transition is vital. We recognise the fantastic work they do, and the provision of fish and seafood continues to be an absolute priority. We have developed regional fisheries management groups and are making good progress on DEFRA’s first six frontrunner fisheries management plans. Those plans are being prepared for public consultation, building on a huge amount of engagement that has already taken place, and five FMPs will be published by the end of 2023.

As I have set out, we have good reason to be proud of the UK’s commitment and also its leadership, working with other countries. We have secured progress on many international agreements and continue to champion ocean protection here and internationally. Collaboration and awareness raising are vital, and the debate has certainly raised awareness. I hope I have been able to demonstrate the successful collaboration and outcomes that have come from those international negotiations and agreements.

That brings me back to the importance of World Ocean Day, which helps with both those aims. There is still much more to do and we can deliver together. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate about the work we are doing in DEFRA. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye not just for the way in which she has enlightened us today, but for her continued passion for the environment. I very much look forward to visiting her constituency next week and meeting some of her farmers, who seem equally passionate about the transition towards much more environmental stewardship in food production. I look forward to seeing her there.

16:07

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive speech and her agreement that more needs to be done despite the UK’s global leadership on this matter. She might be interested to know that the APPG’s next inquiry is on the future of ocean technology, where there is some exciting stuff going on.

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers), who highlighted the need for more research and data, the issue of plastic pollution and the leading role that the UK plays globally in combating that. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), who highlighted the importance of ocean-based solutions to climate change, the acute need to protect, restore and enforce our marine protected areas, which also protect our UK fishing livelihoods, and the role that the UK can play globally in this.

I thank the SNP spokesperson, the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson), and the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel), for their valuable contributions, illustrating—almost—that our ocean is not something that separates us, but which joins us together in political action.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered World Ocean Day.

16:09

Sitting adjourned.