Summer Health and Resilience

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

I can assure the hon. Member that the chief medical officer looks very seriously at all the broader issues around prevention. We deal with health inequalities, and we know that issues around housing, buildings and communities have a big impact on our health. Some areas have traditionally provided community centres for cold weather, so that there is somewhere for people to go—somewhere they can stay warm and see other people in the community—when the weather gets cold, if they are worried about heating their homes. Some areas have now started to do the same thing to ensure that there are cooler places for people to go. That is an example of communities coming together to respond to challenges, so it is actually local communities that we need to empower.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Analysis from Ordnance Survey has highlighted that my great city of Leicester is now projected to show the biggest rise in Britain’s heat vulnerability ranking, climbing from 10th to fourth. This is deeply concerning, considering the record-setting heatwave we have just had. In the absence of a full and speedy green transition, what reassurance can the Secretary of State give my Leicester South constituents that their health facilities will be able to cope with the inevitable increase in heat?

[Yvette Cooper]

I draw the hon. Member’s attention to the work we have set out, including the new planning processes for summer pressures. As part of the heat taskforce’s work, we are setting out the framework for local areas to do their resilience planning. Local NHS managers need to ensure that their systems are resilient to extreme heat, just as they do for winter pressures. Our NHS needs to be resilient at all times of year, and it is important that also happens in Leicester.