Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' report entitled Green Maternity Report 2025.

The Department is committed to supporting the National Health Service in delivering high-quality, equitable, and sustainable maternity services. This includes investing in digital transformation, supporting workforce development, and embedding sustainability into all aspects of care, as set out in 2020’s Delivering a Net Zero NHS report. For instance, reducing nitrous oxide waste through leaner supply and stock management has led to cost savings of over £2.3 million annually and emissions reductions of around 90 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent since 2019/20.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the implications of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' Green Maternity Report 2025.

We continue, however, to work with NHS England, the Royal Colleges, and local partners to ensure that best practice is adopted across the system, and that the environmental impact of maternity care is monitored and reduced in line with our 10-Year Health Plan commitment to prioritise delivery of the NHS’s net zero targets.