King’s Speech

Lord Jordan Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jordan (Lab)]

My Lords, as life president of RoSPA, I welcome the opportunity today to speak on an issue that crucially affects us all: the growing crisis of preventable accidents. It is not receiving the attention or urgency it deserves, and people are dying because of that. Accidents are not rare or isolated incidents. They are the leading cause of avoidable deaths and injuries in the United Kingdom. They happen in places where people should feel and be safest: in their homes, their communities and doing the ordinary things in life. Research from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents shows that around 23,000 people die each year because of accidents, while close to 1 million—yes, 1 million—are admitted to hospital. More worrying is that the accidental death rates have risen by more than 40% over the last 10 years. This is not a temporary spike; it is a sustained increase that highlights that there is a major flaw in how the country approaches accident prevention.

That flaw is a lack of a coherent national strategy for reducing accidental harm. At the heart of the problem is that responsibility for preventing accidents is fragmented across government departments, agencies and systems. Valuable work takes place, but it is leaderless and disconnected. This point was clearly reflected in the recent Westminster Hall debate on accident prevention. The Minister for Local Transport highlighted a range of welcome initiatives already under way. We heard of the good work on safety in transport, housing and the workplace, in products and fire prevention—all important in their own right. But what came across clearly was that responsibility for accident prevention exists in separate departments but lacks an overarching framework to bring it together.

Let us look at falls, the leading cause of accidental death and serious injury, particularly for the elderly. Everyone in this Chamber will know the devastating impact that a fall can have on older people, leading to prolonged hospital stays, a loss of mobility, isolation, and an end to their independence and well-being, costing the NHS and the social care system £6 billion every year. We have seen the cost that this inflicts on families emotionally, practically and financially, yet this harm and these costs are preventable—and the place to focus on is in the home, where most of these accidents occur. The Minister said that everyone has the right to live in a safe home. Creating safe homes means homes designed and maintained with safety and accessibility in mind. It means co-ordination with health and care services, identifying risks early. It means GPs, community nurses and local services being able to intervene before serious injury occurs.

Preventing accidents cannot be the responsibility of central government alone. It requires central and local government departments, employers and charities to work together. Governments can make that happen. A national accident prevention strategy would give the co-ordination and leadership needed to connect existing safety efforts, identify gaps, improve accountability and reduce unnecessary duplication of work across different departments, all ensuring that precious time and resources are used as effectively as possible.

The Labour Government have a proud history of leadership in health and safety. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 put an end to the devastating toll of injuries and death that for 150 years had plagued the world of manufacturing. I know that a national accident prevention strategy could and would have the same impact in reducing the unacceptable and unnecessary number of accidental deaths and injuries that plague us now. Let us have a national prevention strategy now.