NHS 70th Anniversary

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Westminster Hall

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the 70th anniversary of the NHS and public health.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. The 70th anniversary of the NHS is an important time for the country, but it is also a special time for Blaenau Gwent. Aneurin Bevan, and the health service he created, was born and bred in Blaenau Gwent—in Tredegar. Since Nye’s death in the 1960s, Blaenau Gwent MPs have followed in the footsteps of a colossus. We in the borough are immensely proud and fiercely protective of his legacy. When he said he wanted to “Tredegar-ise” the NHS, he was basing his plans on the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, a mutual and an organisation established for all, supported and funded by the people of Tredegar, whether they be miners at the Ty Trist colliery, like my grandfather George, quarry workers at Trefil or nurses at the St James Hospital. If Bevan established an NHS for the 20th century, at this anniversary it is important that we ask ourselves what sort of NHS we need for the 21st century.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab)]

I should declare an interest as a biographer of Aneurin Bevan. Before my hon. Friend moves on to talk more generally about the future, does he agree that the decision to nationalise the hospitals, and the painstaking work that Bevan did in negotiations with the British Medical Association, mean that he truly is the architect of the national health service?

[Nick Smith]

My hon. Friend has written a terrific biography of Aneurin Bevan. He absolutely captured what Nye did for us all.

On 5 July it will not be good enough just to celebrate the past, the history of this brilliant institution and its architect; we must also look to its future and the challenges it now faces. Many of those challenges have been created by eight years of Tory austerity, which has left our national health service underfunded, understaffed and underprepared. Labour would provide more doctors and nurses and provide a funding level to support the service for years to come. Other challenges cannot be put down to politics. The epidemics of old—diseases once fatal that we have almost eradicated—are being replaced with new health problems that are putting massive strains on our NHS. It is wonderful that people are now living longer, but that also means our population is an ageing one that needs support. As our society gets to grips with caring for our mental health, more people need access to these services than ever before.

Today I want to concentrate on another big challenge: rising levels of obesity, particularly among children. In this case, it is a challenge where an ounce of prevention can be better than a pound of cure. Back in Blaenau Gwent, surveys estimate that 70% of adults are overweight or obese and 11% are being treated for diabetes. Most troublingly, the latest figures from the child measurement programme reveal that last year 15% of four and five-year-olds in my constituency were classed as obese. We should all be worried by that trend, which is being replicated across our country.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making some important points. Does he agree that we should urge Ministers to take more of a lead in restricting junk food advertising and to provide extra money and the consequentials to the Welsh health service for such things as earlier intervention by GPs and practice nurses?

[Nick Smith]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. As always, she is ahead of the game—I will come on to that point shortly.

Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer. Diabetes leads to significant complications, including, in extreme cases, amputation. The consequences for our society are massive. NHS England has said that around £16 billion a year is spent on the direct medical costs of diabetes and conditions related to being overweight or obese. That is more than the cost of delivering all our countries’ police and fire services combined. The Government cannot shirk their responsibility to tackle the issue head on. When the next chapter of their childhood obesity plan comes into effect, it needs an effective UK-wide public health drive. It needs to do more to deal with that priority. The 2015 Conservative manifesto pledge to clamp down on advertising unhealthy brands vanished into thin air by the time of the first childhood obesity plan.

It now looks like junk food ads may be banned from programmes where three quarters of the viewers are children. That is to be applauded. It is a good thing, but it fails to tackle the big primetime shows that families gather around the sofa for: shows such as “The X Factors” and the aptly named “Saturday Night Takeaway”. That is without mentioning, with the World cup on the horizon, the premium advertising space around sport. There is a real contradiction when fantastic displays of athletic prowess are bookended by burgers and packaged with pizzas.

Alongside others, Cancer Research UK is pushing for a 9 o’clock watershed for junk food adverts, and the Government must consider that proposal seriously. It is not only me who thinks that; the head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, thinks it would be a good way to tackle this scourge. He believes that even the likes of Facebook must be roped into any plans that limit junk food advertising. The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation suggests having mandatory training for GPs and health professionals to talk about weight in a helpful way and to refer patients to nutritional experts. Whatever the Government decide, they will need to be bold in the face of pressure from the industry heavyweights and their lobbying teams. When plans emerge from this Government, every organisation should be doing their bit.

I was pleased to see the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, take real steps to address junk food advertising last week with his announcement that such adverts are to be banned from the tube and bus networks. Almost 40% of London’s 10 and 11-year-olds are obese or overweight. The Mayor is taking a positive step to tackle what he has rightly called “a ticking time bomb”, and that must be supported. However, it is up to all public bodies, including devolved Administrations, councils and housing associations, to weigh in. Primary schools should promote walking every day to their pupils. It is about using soft power and nudge, as well as improved regulation to make legislative and cultural change.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

The hon. Gentleman is talking about action to tackle childhood obesity and junk food adverts, and also about Jamie Oliver. He will perhaps be aware that Jamie Oliver met the First Minister of Scotland on Monday and welcomed and supported the Scottish Government’s plan to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Would he care to welcome that, as Jamie Oliver did?

[Nick Smith]

I am pleased to welcome that support for a UK issue that we all need to work on.

With further support, we could achieve the healthy lifestyles that so many people want by using influence and our voices. I want to round this speech off with one initiative that I think deserves real backing. It will help our society get on track to healthier lifestyles. To return to Bevan, the initiative is about harnessing community support to deliver improved health for all. Dame Kelly Holmes teamed up with the NHS and parkrun last weekend to encourage people to “take care of yourself” in the build-up to a special parkrun for the NHS on 9 June. My local parkrun group is the Parc Bryn Bach running club, and I can report what a difference such initiatives can make. After a year of running every week, my blood pressure is down and I have tightened my belt a few notches.

I am grateful for the esprit de corps of my local running club. Parc Bryn Bach has Saturday parkruns, special Sunday sessions for parkrun juniors and is a backer of the brilliant NHS Couch to 5k scheme. Just a few Mondays ago, it had 150 people running through a wet, windy April evening to get their fitness up. Over three months, many of those local people will gain confidence and a level of fitness to help them change their lifestyle. The camaraderie and support on offer is fantastic, and that is what makes these schemes fun to join and easy to keep up. Unsurprisingly, the club membership has doubled in recent years, and the coaches and volunteers include many health professionals. They are a great team. I am pleased that the Welsh Labour Government have seen the value of that. Welsh Athletics is supporting clubs with regional Couch to 5k programmes.

[Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and congratulate him on his passionate speech that marks this historic anniversary and the part that his constituency and the wider south Wales region played in the formation of the NHS. Does he agree that in order to tackle our modern health challenges it is important that we have further investment and that the UK Government match the Welsh Government’s passion and commitment to this most cherished national institution?

[Nick Smith]

As usual, my hon. Friend and neighbour makes a very good point. I went on his Merthyr parkrun a few months ago and had a good time.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Nick Smith]

I am pleased to give way to my other neighbour.

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating all those involved in parkrun. Will he join me in congratulating the volunteers who make parkrun possible in his constituency and in mine in Pontypool and Cwmbran, where I too have taken part in parkruns, but I have not quite reached my hon. Friend’s running level yet?

[Nick Smith]

I thank my hon. Friend for supporting parkrun. Perhaps we should have a south Wales eastern region parkrun championship at some point in the coming months. He is absolutely right about volunteers and the running club supporters who are out there at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning, or sometimes on a Sunday morning for the junior parkrun, in parks all across the country. They do a great job in all weather. It is brilliant to see. More than 30,000 runners took part in parkruns in Wales alone last year. It is that sort of activity with cross-body support and backing from our community role models that can make a big difference to making such schemes stick.

When Nye wanted to Tredegar-ise the national health service, he wanted a service built on community where we all bought in and all had a stake. In that spirit the public health challenges we face 70 years on should not be tackled alone. To truly take care of ourselves, we need a society that sets us up for success, a system that has our backs, a public service that recognises what needs to be changed and how to do it. The Government have a real chance to honour the anniversary of the national health service in the months ahead, not with pomp and ceremony, but with the sort of action that people will celebrate another 70 years from now.

[Stewart Hosie (in the Chair)]

Numerous Members wish to speak and I intend to start the summing-up speeches at about 10.30. Members are not particularly time limited, but speeches of six or seven minutes will get everybody in.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Smith]

I thank my comrades and other colleagues for their contributions. I agree with the Minister that it was good to hear a Rabbie Burns poem emphasising good health. My hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Hugh Gaffney) praised health service workers, and I was pleased to hear that his mum is better and at home now.

My hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) emphasised the enormous contribution that Tessa Jowell made to her career. I too would like to support and emphasise that. From the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) we heard about the huge difficulties of getting healthcare on the Scottish islands before 1948. He supported the then Attlee Government’s legislative jewel in the crown: the establishment of the NHS. I thank him for that.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth) emphasised the importance of William Beveridge and the thinking he did to address the five “giant evils” in 1942. That was important for our Labour Government after the second world war. I was pleased to hear from the hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Neil Gray) about the Scottish Government’s plans to halve child obesity. I support that, and of course it should be done everywhere. I was also pleased to hear that our parliamentary running group is getting stronger weekly.

I was glad to hear the Minister emphasise the importance of addressing child obesity, but we really must do better. I will not accept his political barbs about the NHS across our country. I remind him that Churchill and the Conservatives voted against the establishment of the NHS in 1948, and that crucial fact is never forgotten—certainly not in my constituency. I want to praise Nye and the people of my constituency for helping to establish the national health service. We on the Opposition side will guard it with every muscle in our bodies.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the 70th anniversary of the NHS and public health.

Austerity: Life Expectancy

Nick Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 18th April 2018 Westminster Hall

[Chris Ruane]

I agree. All those issues are part of the mix as to why we are seeing a decrease in life expectancy. It is a complex issue that needs further inquiry.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Chris Ruane]

I am afraid that I must move on, because I have been getting eyes from the Chair and I do not want to upset Mr Paisley.

The Government have said that the situation is a blip because of flu or the cold weather. The Department of Health has seemed to downplay fears about life expectancy, pointing out that smoking rates have gone down and cancer rates have gone down, but that is all the more reason to be worried. If those indicators are going down and life expectancy is going down, what is causing that? Those are good indicators, but there are some bad outcomes for certain people in certain areas.

A report by Professor Martin McKee, whom I had the pleasure of meeting yesterday, notes that the most recent period

“has seen one of the greatest slowdowns in the rate of improvement”

in life expectancy

“for both sexes since the 1890s”.

The relative data on life expectancy today is comparable to a time before workers’ rights, advancements in medicine and technology, and the welfare state. That slowdown, as reported by the Office for National Statistics last July, shows that the increases in the previous period, before 2010, meant that for every five years that a woman was living, she could expect to live one year extra. Now it is the case that for every 10 years that a woman is living, she can expect to live one year extra. The rate has been halved.

Let me add to those figures some of my own, which I received through parliamentary questions that I tabled in January. Between 2009-11 and 2014-16, 19.8% and 20.3% of local authorities reported a decline for females at birth and at 65-plus respectively. There are certain areas of the country, certain demographics and certain genders—women—who are feeling this the most. That is no surprise, because 80% of the austerity cuts made since 2010 have fallen on the shoulders of women. The link between life expectancy and cuts to social care budgets has already been highlighted.

The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire mentioned Scotland. I do not want to stick up for the Scots: they can do a good job themselves, especially the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford), with her medical background. However, there are national and regional variations within the United Kingdom. If we look at local authorities in England, we see that 22% of them have seen a decrease in life expectancy.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Steve Brine]

I am very aware of the hon. Gentleman’s work on the Westminster Commission on Autism—he has a big event coming up in the next few weeks that I hope to go to. I completely agree with him, which is why it was so welcome that the CQC report highlighted Government proposals such as establishing dedicated mental health support teams in schools.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Phase 1 on the CQC review noted that there were unacceptable variations in quality. How can quality be provided more consistently throughout the country?

[Steve Brine]

That is an excellent point. The NHS is very good at sharing best practice; the challenge comes in implementing it. The report rightly says that there are very good examples of good person-centred care throughout the country. The challenge is to make sure that is rolled out everywhere. I suppose the answer is to focus on the workforce and the investment, and to make sure that we have in place the agreed strategy to take the sector with us and do that.

Acute and Community Health

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 8th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Barclay]

I spoke to colleagues in the MOJ yesterday about the issue that my right hon. and learned Friend raised in the first part of his question. I agree with him that the standards of care for those in prison should be the same as those in the NHS more widely. As he will know, NHS England took over commissioning for healthcare services in prisons in 2013; that is one of the changes that have been made. He will also know that Dr Kirkup’s report drew attention to local factors, including a personal conflict of interests that goes to the heart of the relationship between the trust and the prison. However, he is absolutely right to allude to some wider issues from which we need to learn.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

How many members of the board failed to co-operate with this scathing review, and can the Minister name them?

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 6th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be addressing that in a little while. The whole issue of reflective learning is important. We should not, through this case, prevent people from being honest about the experiences that they have had.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

20. Energy drinks packed with caffeine have been connected to problems with children’s health. Tesco, Asda and Aldi have banned the sale of these drinks to under-16s, so will the Government do the same?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

We are becoming increasingly conscious of drinks with additional unnatural stimulants and their impact on people’s health generally, but obviously that becomes more acute with children’s health, so we will look more closely at it. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has highlighted the initiatives that have been taken by individual retailers, because it is up to them to implement good practice.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

I have listened carefully to cancer charities, clinicians and patients on the importance of the cancer patient experience survey. I have been clear that, whatever form the CPES takes as a result of the changes to how confidential data is shared, we want the survey to continue with a methodology as close to that of the current survey as possible.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

T2. Last week at PMQs, the Prime Minister made an inaccurate statement about the emergency health services in Wales. The chair of the UK Statistics Authority concluded that the Prime Minister’s comparison was not valid. Comparisons on the performance of our NHS are important, so will Government Ministers check their partisan figures in future?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Stephen Barclay)]

It is interesting, looking at the comparisons, to see that the NHS in Wales appears to have changed a number of them, to make it more difficult to compare performance between England and Wales. The more scrutiny there is of the performance in Wales—where clinicians say that the best performance often equates to the worst performance in England—the more we will see the need for serious changes in the way in which the NHS delivers its services in Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

7. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for social care.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Jackie Doyle-Price)]

Councils in England will receive an additional £2 billion for social care over the next three years, as announced in March 2017. The Government have given councils access to up to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for social care over the next three years as a result of measures introduced since 2015. This means that, overall, councils are able to increase spending on adult social care in real terms in each of the next three years.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

The entitlement to care is completely enshrined in the Care Act 2014, so if needs are not being met, there is a statutory obligation that can be enforced. On the long-term solutions, obviously, we have put in additional money to sort out the short-term funding pressures, but we need to have a long-term and more sustainable deal with which to meet our obligations for social care, which is why we are bringing forward a Green Paper next year. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will participate in that debate.

[Nick Smith]

Following Four Seasons’ temporary reprieve from administration, what plans are in place to help councils to deliver their statutory care duties in the event of the failure of this major provider?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this with me today, because I hope to reassure the House, and anxious people with loved ones in care with Four Seasons, that there is no immediate threat to continuity of care. I and my officials are keeping a very close eye on the situation, so that, with the Care Quality Commission, we ensure that there is a stable transition and that the commercial issues are dealt with in an appropriate way. That is leading to some very challenging conversations, but I can assure him that I and my officials are on it.

Social Care

Nick Smith Excerpts

Thursday 7th December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

My hon. Friend is right. I mentioned that local authorities are very keen for us to find a solution to this problem, but it is the Alzheimer’s lobby that is keener than anyone. At the moment, one in 10 people faces long-term care bills. Therefore, if we are looking at an individual’s risk, making financial provision is not necessarily something that they will do, so we do need a solution. The one in 10 people who face long-term care costs generally do face them as a consequence of dementia and the costs are very significant. That is exactly what we are trying to tackle by introducing a cap on the overall costs. That is why it is important that we all get involved and why the Alzheimer’s lobby is so keen that we establish cross-party consensus.

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. The fact is that over the past 50 years, our lifestyles have changed significantly. Looking at my family, everybody lives within half a mile of each other, so as we get older it is very easy for the family to pick up caring responsibilities and share them about. I live 300 miles away from them. That is increasingly the pattern. Like her, when I knocked on doors during the election, I saw people in their late 80s whose families were living many miles away. That is something that we have failed to address over decades, and we need to address it now.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Will the Minister update us on the financial stability of the Four Seasons group, which cares for over 17,000 vulnerable residents across the UK?

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

I am aware that there has been considerable press reporting on what is happening with Four Seasons. What I can say is that since Southern Cross, the CQC has been involved in market oversight and in stress testing exactly what is happening. We are satisfied that there is no risk to any of the people who currently experience care through Four Seasons. Beyond that, I cannot say very much because there are obviously commercial issues. However, the hon. Gentleman is right to raise the matter and I hope I can reassure him that the CQC is very close to what is happening there.

Contaminated Blood

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 11th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson]

It is delightful to see you in your new place in the Chamber, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) on her maiden speech. That was an excellent start, and I am sure she will have a very long career in the House of Commons.

We have heard some really important and excellent contributions. I think we were all moved by the contribution from my hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) when she talked about Colin Smith—a little boy who received contaminated blood products when he was quite tiny, and who eventually died of AIDS and hepatitis C. That reminded us all that this is about boys and girls, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters who have been affected by this scandal.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that these blood products should have been withdrawn as soon as the risks involved in their use became clear?

[Diana Johnson]

That is a good point, and I hope the inquiry will be able to get to grips with it.

I am really pleased we have had this announcement today from the Government, but I gently say to the Minister that we will not be going away on this: parliamentarians on both sides of the House will be following carefully how the consultation takes place and who is consulted, and making sure that there is a good, timely timetable, that there is legal support for those who need help with representation, and that there are regular updates to Parliament.

I want to finish with a quote from a person who has just emailed me and says that this is

“just the end of the beginning and still a long way to go before truth, justice and holding to account are achieved”.

We will now be watching very carefully what the Government do next.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the need for an independent public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.

Brain Tumours

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 18th April 2016 Westminster Hall

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North (Helen Jones) said, brain tumours are the biggest cause of cancer death among children and adults under 40 in the UK. Surely, research into that disease should be a priority in the UK and around the world.

I will talk today about five-year-old Cian Case. My friend, Huw Irranca-Davies, who has now left this place after being the hon. Member for Ogmore, has been dealing with Cian and his family for some time, and he wanted me to pass on Cian’s story.

At the end of November 2015, Cian was admitted to the Royal Glamorgan hospital with acute stomach pain. A scan identified a tumour on his spine and he was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, so that as much of the tumour as possible could be removed. The trauma left Cian completely paralysed from the waist down, with the neurologists sceptical about how much mobility he could recover.

Cian was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive cancer that affects the central nervous system and that is mainly diagnosed in very young children. The survival outcomes are not favourable. The “seeds” of this cancer had already begun to spread to Cian’s brain. Fortunately, Cian responded well to that initial dose of chemotherapy and is now receiving intensive chemotherapy to his brain and spine.

[Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)]

I pay warm tribute to Carole Hughes, the inspirational woman behind Peterborough-based Anna’s Hope. She is in the Gallery today. In view of the fact that cancer affects children in particular, does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is important that specialist neuro-rehabilitation therapy centres are set up to assist children in that position and to try to get them to fulfil their ultimate potential?

[Nick Smith]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman, who makes an important point.

I am pleased to report that Cian continues to make good progress and that his mobility is improving weekly, defying the original prognosis. Cian’s dad, Richard, is one of the more than 120,000 signatories to the petition we are discussing. He understands that cancers such as Cian’s are rare, and that that is why funding may not have been forthcoming enough. He believes, however, that more research can lead to longer and healthier lives for youngsters blighted so early by this disease. I am pleased that Cancer Research UK has committed to increasing spend on research into brain tumours, and we can all welcome that good news.

It is difficult standing here today relaying the story of one family’s brush with tragedy and the long road to recovery ahead, so I do not want our successors, years from now, to face the same questions, wringing their hands and saying, “Something should be done.” The community has rallied around Cian and his family—the school, the rugby club and the community drop-in centre have all organised different activities to raise awareness and funds, for which the family are incredibly grateful. The Noah’s Ark children’s hospital, LATCH and everyone in the health service has been fantastic on every step of Cian’s fight. They are all doing their bit; now it’s our turn.

Physical Inactivity (Public Health)

Nick Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure both to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Weir, and to introduce today’s debate. I would like to put my thanks on the record to the Backbench Business Committee for allocating us this time, and I particularly thank the hon. Members for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) and for Canterbury (Mr Brazier), my right hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Kevin Barron), my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford South (Mr Sutcliffe) and the right hon. and learned Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) for their support in applying for this debate. It is great to have cross-party interest, and I am looking forward to hearing colleagues’ contributions today on how we can best get Britain active.

I note that the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford has sent her apologies to us today; I understand that she is being kept busy in a bunker in Rochester and Stroud. Fair do’s—she is a tireless campaigner on public health and I pay tribute to the work that she has done in this area.

There is a physical inactivity epidemic and a growing obesity problem. If we want to make south Wales and the UK healthy again, we must help people to enjoy the simple activities that can save their lives. We need to walk, dance and play our way to well-being.

Tredegar in my constituency is the home of Nye Bevan and the NHS, and promoting physical activity is an issue that beats at the heart of our nation’s health. Although health is a devolved matter in Wales, I take an interest in the wider issues of public health, and during my time in the House I have spoken in favour of minimum pricing for alcohol and plain packaging for cigarettes, and taken an interest in the drivers of long-term conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Britain, including Wales, is a great sporting nation. Governments of both colours have made huge efforts to showcase Britain as a home to sports. In recent years, we have celebrated the 2012 Olympics and this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth games, and next year there will be the rugby union world cup. However, for all that we are a successful sporting nation, we are not an active nation.

This debate is conveniently timed, as ukactive has just published its latest report into what it calls an “epidemic” of inactivity. Ukactive aims to get

“more people more active, more often”

and the stats that it has to show are really quite shocking.

Inactivity is the fourth largest cause of disease and disability in the UK, and physical inactivity directly contributes to one in every six deaths in the UK. That makes it as dangerous as smoking. Those who are completely inactive are at a much greater risk of a wide range of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancers, obesity and mental health conditions, including dementia. Last week, the Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services reported that Wales is suffering from an “obesity epidemic”.

In the most recent Wales health survey, 58% of adults were classed as overweight, with 22% classed as obese. In my constituency of Blaenau Gwent that was higher, with 27% of adults being classified as obese. Meanwhile, Public Health England reports that obesity in adults has increased from 15% in 1993 to 25% in 2012. Obesity for children under 10 has increased to 13% and for 11 to 15-year-olds, it has increased to a shocking 18.7%. The answer to that is not just diet, of course, and it is certainly not to do nothing. We need to get Britain moving. How do we do that? I am careful at least to try and practise what I preach. Although I am often guilty of flopping down by the telly and watching sport instead of doing it, over the summer one of my tech-savvy daughters downloaded a pedometer app on to my phone for me. I now take care to get in my 10,000 steps a day, although sometimes it is a struggle. I am also a keen hiker; my part of the world, which includes the Brecon Beacons, is very good for that.

One of the key messages that we need to get across in this debate is that physical activity can be as simple as just going for a walk. This is not a debate on how to increase participation in sport, although sport is a cracking pastime for those who want to do it. Physical activity can be anything from taking the dog for a walk, to a Zumba class, to kids flying around on a skateboard. Not every kid in a class will be sporty, just as not every adult has fond memories of playing rugby in freezing cold PE lessons. We risk putting people off and making them think it is not for them if we make this solely a “sports” agenda, not a “get active” agenda. It is important that we make it easy, natural and normal for people to fit activity into their day.

In Blaenau Gwent in south Wales we have some fantastic, varied activity going on. There is a great tradition of bowling, with many teams from different valley villages and towns. That also helps address problems of loneliness and supports good mental health for older people. There are lots of dance groups, too. Places such as the Llanhilleth institute, built from the contributions of miners and steelworkers, positively bubbles with the sounds and energy of Zumba and body combat sessions. It is fantastic to see these places.

Having said that, in times of cutbacks to councils we need to promote more and more of such provision in deprived boroughs such as mine. I would like to see promotion of what I see as more accessible sports too, which require less space and less kit and caboodle, and which can be played indoors, such as table tennis and basketball.

Across Britain, the most deprived areas on average suffer more from inactivity and have higher rates of obesity than less deprived boroughs. There are practical concerns that we need to take into consideration. We can encourage somebody to take more exercise, but if we do, we need to make it easy, affordable and safe for them to do so. In order to make a meaningful difference, we need to be serious about reaching those hardest-to- reach groups.

The biggest health benefit is earned by getting someone to move from no activity to some activity. What are the Government doing specifically to encourage participation in physical activity in the most deprived areas? The next important factor is profile, and there is still lots to do to raise the profile of physical activity to improve public health. There have been some real success stories over the past year, of local government pushing this issue up the list of priorities. Ukactive found that over 70% of local authorities have increased spending on physical activity in the last year. In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government have set the pace for leadership on this issue. Last year, Wales launched the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013—Europe’s first piece of active travel legislation—which puts safe cycling and walking at the heart of Wales’s plans for the future.

We must not underestimate the achievements that there have been, but we must also not underestimate how far we still have left to travel. Despite the increases and the good work and good will that we have seen, spending on physical activity represents just 4% of the ring-fenced public health grant. We need all Governments, of all colours, to take leadership on the issues—just look at the national campaign on smoking, which has made such a huge difference. Before 1998, smoking levels were rising year on year, as inactivity and obesity levels are rising now, yet since 1998, 1.5 million people have quit smoking. The tide has turned. Important factors include the 10-year strategy, which has been long-term and, crucially, supported by all major parties across the aisle, so it is important that this issue is not politicised, and that is why it is great today that there is good cross- party debate. Pleasingly, the momentum has continued —and fair do’s, in 2011, the Government set specific targets to reduce smoking further by 2015. That needs to be applauded.

However, that leads me to a final but really key point. Action on smoking is about shifting the narrative to prevention rather than cure, and that is what we need to do now for physical inactivity. Individually, we all need to be concerned with physical activity for the sake of our personal health, and nationally, we all need to be concerned about physical inactivity for the sake of our national health service.

The new chief executive of NHS England put that in no uncertain terms last week, when he told the annual conference of Public Health England to get serious about obesity or bankrupt the NHS. We cannot afford to keep flooding our NHS with avoidable illness and disability. Diabetes UK estimates that type 2 diabetes already costs the NHS about £9 billion a year. If we are to protect our NHS and the excellent service that it gives us and our constituents, we need to prevent these problems from arising in the first place. The NHS is the national health service, not the national sickness service or the national pharmaceutical service. Prevention is better than cure. We need to start seriously looking at shifting to a service that promotes health and prevents illness wherever possible.

I am pleased that a future Labour Government would be committed to allowing GPs to give out exercise on prescription. That is a step that the medical profession is ready to take. A recent poll of GPs reported that 95% of GPs without access to exercise referral programmes said they would use one if it were available. The success of initiatives such as Let’s Get Moving, which encouraged more than 500 previously inactive patients to amass a total of 164 million steps—is that not brilliant?—shows how valuable GP surgery-led interventions can be.

This is an important debate and there are important questions to put to the Minister. First, how can the Government and others improve on what is being done? Secondly, where is the Olympic legacy for deprived areas such as Newham, which hosted the Olympics and is the least active borough in the country? Thirdly, what can be done to ensure that best practice is being shared, and that our efforts are being properly monitored so that we have data on what works, what is needed and, importantly, where?

Credit needs to be given where it is due. Some ships are moving in the right direction. For example, in England, the NHS’s “Five Year Forward View” makes a strong reference to this topic. We must applaud that, but the tide has not yet turned and inactivity is still set to rise.

Like smoking cessation, what can the Minister offer that will really make a difference in this regard? Labour has given a commitment to put physical activity at the heart of its future health plans, but the current Government and all future Governments, of any colour, need to do the same. I look forward to hearing from colleagues and to the Minister’s reply.

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Smith]

I have little time to respond, so I unfortunately cannot comment on all the cracking contributions made in the debate, but I did particularly like the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (Mr McKenzie), who talked about our spending all day in front of a screen and then going home to spend our evening in front of a screen. We should all be mindful of that. I also laughed at his story about being a Zumba orphan, because that is where his mum spends all her time these days.

I want to highlight a few points that were made in today’s debate. It is important that we reduce obesity and improve health in areas of deprivation. The costs of being unhealthy are high, particularly for clinical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. The financial costs of obesity are also high, and we need to promote physical activity. The NHS’s chief executive has spoken of the NHS being bankrupted by the high costs of physical inactivity.

I thank everybody for participating in today’s debate. We must place as much emphasis on promoting physical activity as we placed on reducing smoking in the past in order to see a successful campaign.