Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) data for and (b) research into coastal communities.

The National Institute for Heath and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research specifically focusing on coastal populations, including investing in local authority and higher education partnerships, as well as studies that focussed on health care in these areas. Further information about this research is available at the following link:

https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/pages/homepage/

The NIHR has a Research Inclusion Strategy which, amongst other objectives, aims to widen research access and participation for greater diversity and inclusion, including for populations in coastal communities. Further information on the strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/strategy-2022-27

The NIHR’s research funding guidance requires researchers to show how they will make sure their research is inclusive and addresses inequalities in health and care, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/funding-application-guidance