Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of domestic wood burning in residential areas on public health.

The Chief Medical Officer’s 2022 Annual Report highlighted that domestic wood burning is a significant source of harmful fine particulate matter, particularly in residential areas.

The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA’s) systematic reviews of the association between outdoor and indoor exposure to solid fuel burning and respiratory diseases have shown that burning solid fuels can contribute to the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults. The UKHSA’s reviews are available at the following two links:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35149281/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33017761/

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out how the Government will improve the public's health, including action to reduce the health harms of air pollution, and in particular on domestic burning.