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 Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on increasing access to defibrillators at grassroots sports events in (a) County Durham and (b) England.

There have been no specific discussions.

The Government recognises that better provision of defibrillators and increasing the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation could help save more lives of those who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting. We therefore encourage organisations across England, including in County Durham, to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first-aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people. Provision elsewhere in the United Kingdom is a matter for the devolved administrations.

Many community defibrillators have since been provided in public locations, including shopping centres, through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities.