Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy varying widely across and within communities. The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain by tackling the structural inequalities that contribute to poor health, particularly for disadvantaged groups.

Existing initiatives to reduce inequalities in relation to health services in England include NHS England’s Core20PLUS5, which focuses on improving the five clinical areas at most need of accelerated improvement in the poorest 20% of the population, along with other underserved population groups identified at a local level, including groups that share protected characteristics, and socially excluded groups such as people experiencing homelessness.

The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities’ North West Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and for reducing health inequalities across the North West. Mid Cheshire local authorities, the Cheshire West and Chester Council and the Cheshire East Council, received a combined total of £36.9 million in Public Health Grant funding for 2024/25. This provides services such as stop smoking, drug and alcohol treatment, health visiting and school nursing, sexual health, and NHS Health Checks, among others, all of which contribute to addressing health inequalities.

Across Cheshire and Merseyside, partners are working together as part of the All Together Fairer collaborative to improve health equity and the social determinants of health, through measurable actions for each place, to create a fairer, more equitable society.