Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 28 October 2024 (HL1263), when they intend to lay the commencement order for the public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities under section 1 of the Equality Act 2010; and what milestones they have set for its implementation.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, can thrive. To support this, we will commence the socio-economic duty on public bodies in Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. We are currently working toward commencement of the duty, which includes drafting statutory guidance that will clarify how the duty can be applied effectively. As part of this process, we are working with listed public bodies to ensure the guidance supports them effectively.
Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the data published by the Office of National Statistics about healthy life expectancy on 19 February 2026, whether they are on track to deliver the shift from sickness to prevention and the reduction in health inequalities committed to in the 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for National Statistics’ publication on 19 February showed that healthy life expectancy decreased between 2022 to 2024, although overall life expectancy increased.
The Government is committed to ensuring everyone lives well for longer, regardless of where they are from. This is set out in our ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.
The key to achieving this is shifting from sickness to prevention, and we are already delivering that shift. For example, through our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create a smoke-free Britain, alongside decisive action to tackle childhood obesity and create the healthiest generation of children ever. Additionally, we have fulfilled our commitment to restrict junk food advertising targeted at children on television and online.
We will be supporting people to make healthier choices when it comes to alcohol, and this includes strengthening and expanding alcohol labelling. We will also tackle air pollution, which particularly affects working class communities. This spring, we will publish the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework, which will drive action on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke through evidence-based interventions, innovation, and tackling unwarranted variation and inequalities in care.
The Government can’t do this alone. We will succeed by taking a whole society approach, and as such we will work in parentship with business, civil society, and citizens to drive our national mission and empower individuals to live well for longer.
Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government in light of the data published by the Office for National Statistics on 19 February showing decreasing life expectancy for males and females and a gap in healthy life expectancy between local areas, whether they are on track to deliver the shift to sickness to prevention and the reduction in health inequalities committed to in the 10-year Health Plan for England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for National Statistics’ publication on 19 February showed that healthy life expectancy decreased between 2022 to 2024, although overall life expectancy increased.
The Government is committed to ensuring everyone lives well for longer, regardless of where they are from. This is set out in our ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.
The key to achieving this is shifting from sickness to prevention, and we are already delivering that shift. For example, through our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill to create a smoke-free Britain, alongside decisive action to tackle childhood obesity and create the healthiest generation of children ever. Additionally, we have fulfilled our commitment to restrict junk food advertising targeted at children on television and online.
We will be supporting people to make healthier choices when it comes to alcohol, and this includes strengthening and expanding alcohol labelling. We will also tackle air pollution, which particularly affects working class communities. This spring, we will publish the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework, which will drive action on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke through evidence-based interventions, innovation, and tackling unwarranted variation and inequalities in care.
The Government can’t do this alone. We will succeed by taking a whole society approach, and as such we will work in parentship with business, civil society, and citizens to drive our national mission and empower individuals to live well for longer.
Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they hold on how air pollution impacts the health of people of different (1) ethnic groups, and (2) income levels; and whether they have identified any significant gaps in this data.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A 2025 report by the Air Quality Expert Group highlights inequalities in exposure to air pollution across the United Kingdom, as certain minority ethnic groups are exposed to higher levels of outdoor air pollution. Additional evidence suggests that people in lower-socioeconomic groups are more likely to live in heavily polluted areas, and that more ethnically diverse neighbourhoods experience higher levels of air pollution.
Based on this evidence, the UK Health Security Agency has developed an indicator to represent population level vulnerability to air pollution in England. However, more research is needed to better understand how socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and ethnic minority communities experience the health harms of air pollution.
Asked by: Lord Babudu (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, given that statistics published in February 2026 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show that 175,990 children were living in temporary accommodation in England in September 2025, what assessment they have made of the impact of temporary accommodation conditions on children's health outcomes and healthy life expectancy, and what steps they are taking to reduce the length of time children spend in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children.
The Child Poverty Strategy and our National Plan to End Homelessness set out our commitments to eradicate unsuitable or poor-quality accommodation and ensure children in temporary accommodation do not experience gaps in health care provision.
These include our commitment to eliminating the unlawful use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for families by the end of this Parliament, introducing a clinical code to improve data and prevent incidents in temporary accommodation, ending the practice of discharging newborns into B&B or other unsuitable shared accommodation, and providing proactive outreach to families in temporary accommodation.
We are tackling the root causes of homelessness building 1.5 million homes, including a generational increase in new social and affordable homes. We have set out a new 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme backed by a £39 billion investment.
We are providing over £3.6 billion in funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services from 2026/27 to 2028/29, which will help local areas deliver tailored solutions to tackle all forms of homelessness.