Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance the has issued to local authorities on encouraging preventative health behaviours among working-age adults with (a) caring and (b) parental responsibilities.

The Government recognises the vital role that preventative health behaviours play in improving long-term health outcomes, including among working-age adults with caring and parental responsibilities.

The Government’s Health Mission sets out a plan to shift our National Health Service away from a model geared towards late diagnosis and treatment, to one where the NHS focuses on prevention, with more services delivered in local communities.

The Government’s Better Health Start for Life campaign provides resources for local authorities, as well as advice to parents and carers. This supports healthy behaviours for babies and children up to the age of five years old on a range of topics, from pregnancy and infant feeding to getting their child school ready.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.