Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Surgeons on the effect of poor air quality on public health.

The Department has engaged with the Royal Medical Colleges frequently. For example, the Chief Medical Officer has engaged with the Royal College Presidents on a fortnightly basis since January 2020 to share information and brief them on our health priorities. More specifically the Department, through Public Health England (PHE), held discussions with the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health about the effects of indoor air quality on health whilst developing the report ‘The inside story: Health effects of indoor air quality on children and young people’, published in January 2020 and was a named co-author.

PHE also previously held discussions with the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health about the effects of poor air quality on health whilst developing the report ‘Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution’, published in February 2016 and was a named co-author.