Preparing for an Ageing Society (Economic Affairs Committee Report)

Lord Kakkar Excerpts

Friday 4th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kakkar (CB)]

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for the thoughtful way in which he introduced this important report. I declare my own interests as chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research. This is not the first report of a Select Committee of your Lordships’ House that has identified important and common challenges attending ageing. A report in 2013 by a Select Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change, two committees chaired by my noble friend Lord Patel on the sustainability of the NHS and adult social care in 2017, and a Science and Technology Committee report on the science of ageing in 2021 all reached remarkably similar conclusions.

As the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, has said, the increase in longevity is to be seen quite rightly as a tremendous success. But the real peril is the fact that healthy lifespan has not increased at the same rate, and that more and more of our population will be living with multiple co-morbidities and ill health for an extended period. That puts unsustainable pressure on the provision of healthcare, and it must now be addressed.

Thirteen years of addressing this issue in your Lordships’ House has been attended by no meaningful government intervention or action; action is now urgently required. There is a good basis to act, because the science of ageing is now far better understood. The biological processes are better understood. We are now able to identify biomarkers associated with chronic inflammation that attend the development of many co-morbidities.

Therefore, in a short time, we should be able to develop strategies to identify early in life those individuals at high risk for the development of multiple co-morbidities later in life, and to intervene in those in a targeted and precise way to reduce the occurrence of those diseases. In time, that will have a substantial impact on reducing the burden in the National Health Service. That burden manifests itself not only in the need to deliver care but in an ever increasing proportion of the population needing to deliver those services rather than being economically active in other parts of the economy.

But all this requires a holistic strategy to be delivered somewhere in government that brings the elements of government together and, most importantly, ensures that elements attending the delivery of healthcare reflect the complexity of managing health in an ageing population and the need to ensure that those challenges are addressed appropriately for individuals, as well as across communities and more broadly in the system. We need substantial government investment to ensure that the move to prevention is properly financed now, rather than being talked about as a future requirement.

Covid-19 Inquiry

Lord Kakkar Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a point on collateral damage and the impact of the pandemic. I think a lot of us will recognise that, particularly the impact on children and young people, from those we have in our families and social context. The length of the inquiry was noted by the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, and one of the reasons for its length is that it will go into quite a lot of detail to look at the impact on particular aspects of society beyond the initial response, the preparedness and the impact on individuals from the disease itself. The hearings on the impact on children and young people are due to take place in September later this year. Then, the hearings on module 9, which is the module after that one, are due to take place in November 2025. The wider impact on society is in module 10, towards the end of the consideration of the impact of Covid by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Hallett, and those hearings are currently expected to take place early next year.

[Lord Kakkar (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for bringing this Statement to the House and, in so doing, I remind noble Lords of my own interests as chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research and as chairman of UK Biobank.

I would like to reflect a little bit further on recommendation 5, which deals with the question of research and data. The recovery trial conducted during Covid was essential in rapidly bringing forward treatments that were proven and could be applied quickly to the benefit of those hospitalised with Covid who were requiring treatment and intervention, and it had a major impact on saving lives. It was possible only because the Secretary of State had to issue a COPI notice to ensure that there was access to confidential patient data, which was essential in being able to undertake such research studies as the recovery study.

Is the Minister content that sufficient progress has been made in curating the totality of NHS data available and ensuring it is research ready, so that it could be applied effectively at scale and pace in any future pandemic? Can she confirm that the funding to support the capacity in infrastructure to undertake clinical research provided through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council will be protected in the forthcoming spending round to ensure that this vital research capacity is available at short notice if we have a future pandemic?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

My noble friend Lord Livermore is here, so I am sure he heard the noble Lord’s point about the spending review. I will feed the noble Lord’s comments in.

In relation to data and future research, the Government agree with the inquiry that data and research are crucial to preparing for and responding to future pandemics. Clearly, it is a matter of when, not if. We have made significant progress on identifying the data across government. The National Situation Centre was established in 2021 and provides situational awareness for crisis response. As a resilience geek, I think that is a fascinating development that has contributed quite a lot. I note the noble Baroness’s previous role in it.

The UKHSA continues to develop and optimise data surveillance capabilities to keep ahead of the next threats across all population groups, society and public services, locally and globally. That is something on which we agree with the inquiry’s recommendation, and we hope the noble Lord will recognise that delivery has already started. I am happy to pick up any additional points with him directly.