Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of regional inequality on public health; and if he will make a statement.

No recent assessment has been made. However, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes health indicators at upper tier local authority level in the Public Health Outcomes Framework and other related profiles. The information assists local government and health services to improve the health of the local population and reduce health disparities.

The ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ white paper (LUWP) published in February 2022 includes an element to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030. The LUWP committed the Department to the publication of a Health Disparities White Paper. We will provide further information on timing and plans in due course.